


“Happiness is not by chance, but by choice” (Jim Rohn)

by VanBel64



Category: Bodyguard (TV 2018)
Genre: Action & Romance, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, My First Fanfic, My First Smut, Sex, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:20:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 57,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26155645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanBel64/pseuds/VanBel64
Summary: Julia survives and is in a coma.All the other events happen except the final scene. No way David is reconciling with Vicky. Just. Not. Happening.Julia & David love each other.Will they be able to acknowledge it and will their love survive the spying & political games, small lies & unspoken truths and above all, their own fears?
Relationships: David Budd & Julia Montague, David Budd/Julia Montague, David Budd/Original Character(s), David Budd/Vicky Budd, Julia Montague/Other(s)
Comments: 53
Kudos: 93
Collections: In Lockdown With Keeley





	1. Alive

“How is Jul.. Miss Montague going? Please Doctor“ pleads David.. 

Frances looks at him strangely. “Excuse me, sir, but who are you exactly? You are the man Roger was yelling at earlier in the corridor”  
“Sorry Ma’am. My name is David Budd. I am Julia.. Miss Montague-PPO. I saved her life during the Thornton Circus attempt of her life and I am so sorry I have failed her today.. and I have failed you as well.. but I need to know if she will be OK, please” says David with some tears starting to form in his eyes. “I should be the one seriously injured or dead to protect her. I have failed both of you”. 

Frances answers empathically & kindly “David, you are not the one who placed that bomb up there. There was no way you could guess there was a bomb and you said the police checked twice under the stage. You have done all you could possibly do. Stop beating yourself up”. David was now sobbing as silently as possible. 

The Doctor looks at Frances with an inquisitive look. Frances keeps looking at David but nods at the Doctor. “Please, go ahead, I think David is really concerned about my daughter’s health and I think he has the right to know the extent of her injuries”. Then turning herself to face David directly, she looks at him in the eyes and says: “Honestly David, I am glad I am not facing this alone and I am glad someone is genuinely caring for her”. 

The Doctor starts to talk slowly with a kind voice: “Miss Montague is in a coma caused by a serious concussion due to the impact of the blast. I am really sorry but we had to amputate her right leg (below knee)”. David & Frances start crying at the same time. “I am very sorry but we had to, to save her life and avoid the infection to spread to her whole body, her leg has been completely smashed into pieces because of the explosion”. He pauses. 

“She also had some internal bleedings that we managed to stop and she did not suffer from any brain damages which is a miracle. She suffered from a collapsed lung that we managed to re-inflate and from severe burns on her right side and both her hands as she shielded her face from the blast with both hands which are more likely going to leave her with scars but we will refer her to a plastic surgeon when she will be ready. She suffered from broken bones (her collarbone, her right ulna and 4 ribs). He pauses again. 

“The very positive news is that, we have done a full-body MRI and none of her other organs was damaged. It will take her several weeks to heal and some reeducation -we will refer her to the best prosthetist in the UK- and we are confident she will recover at 100%”.

David asks tentatively: “is she suffering?”  
The Doctor answers: “no, she is not, thanks to the morphine. We monitor her closely”

Frances & David ask at the same time: “when is she going to wake-up?”  
The Doctor sighs “I can’t answer that question, I am afraid”… we have to stay positive and support her the best we can: us from a medical perspective and you two as her close entourage, before adding kindly “love can move mountains”.

David frowns. Is it love? It must be. Even if it is a short time and if they have never really talked about it. But he remembers what she said “I want you right beside me, not because it’s your job, but because it’s our choice”. He never got a chance to reply to her. He thought they had all time later that evening in the intimacy of her hotel room (their Blackwood’s bubble) to discuss. But now he is sure. He. Loves. Her

Frances looks at him.. “David, is there something I need to know about you & my daughter?”.. David looks at her, eyes wided.. “I.. we.. “ he looks at his feet.. he looks around him to make sure nobody was listening and he said with a lower voice “we were.. are.. having an ‘affair’.. well, we are in a ‘relationship’, it is very early days.. just before her speech she said to me: “I want you right beside me, not because it’s your job but because it’s our choice”.. but I did not have a chance to answer yet…but that’s what I want.. if she still wants me. I love her and I want to be right beside her, forever”. Frances nods and reaches out to him.. “Nice to meet you David”, he replies back “nice to meet you Mrs. Montague”. 

Frances looks back at the Doctor: “can WE see her now, please, Doctor?”. Well.. you can see her, Mrs. Montague, but I am afraid Mr Budd is not in her list of approved visitors at the moment…” avoiding David’s gaze..  
Frances asks him: “how can we modify this, please?”. David looks at her with lots of gratitude. The Doctor answered: “leave it with me”. David says “Thank you so much Mrs. Montague”. She replies back “My daughter does not trust people easily, and even less often loves people.. if she said that to you, you must be special to her and she most certainly has got feelings for you, that’s all a mother wants for her daughter: to love, be loved and happy”. David smiled slightly with gratitude.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Awake
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	2. Awake

David is spending as much time as possible in the hospital at her bed side (including most nights on a camping bed organized by the woman who helped him throughout the enquiry – the one he corrected twice when she mentioned Roger worrying about his wife, David correcting her twice “ex-wife”), holding her hand during the whole night, talking to her, relating the latest news about the Country, caressing her cheeks very gently, holding her hands, kissing her very softly. He also started to read books to her- the first one was “Romeo & Juliet” from Shakespeare. 

David & Frances get to know each other, Frances tells him a lot of stories from Julia’s childhood, anecdotes with her beloved dad, they really start to create a strong bond.  
David also continues to see the occupational health doctor and he is definitely feeling mentally better & stronger each day. His relationship with Vicky is very friendly and he really appreciated everything she did to save his life and even if they do not want to be a couple anymore, there is still a lot of affection between them. They talked about finally getting divorced and it will be quick as they have been separated for more than 2 years. David has taken a special insurance for Vicky & the kids, in case anything bad happens to him. The divorce will not take more than 4 months and David thinks it will be a nice surprise for Julia when she wakes up.

As he has been affected to desk duty whilst he is seeing the occupational health doctor, he also has some time to think about what he wants to do next. He does not want to be a PPO for anyone else than Julia and with the on-going investigation regarding his relationship with Julia, staying her PPO is not really an option anymore. Julia also made it clear she did not want him to stay as her PPO anyway. He has a very positive discussion with Louise & Deepak about becoming a Detective Inspector and join the SO15 team. So he decided to apply for the training with Deepak, Louise & Anne Sampson support.

3 weeks after the accident, Julia was showing encouraging signs of waking up. David & Frances were not leaving her side at all as both wanted to be there when she would wake up. All her injuries were healing well but she has lost a lot of weight. She will need lots of physiotherapy, reeducation and patience. The next day, Julia wakes up, she moves her head, open her eyes slowly and her first words are “David’, “David”, “is David alright?”.. David says “I am here Julia, I am fine, welcome back my love” and he squeezes his hand and kisses her very softly on her mouth. Frances smiled gently at both of them and squeezes her other hand “Julia, I am here as well, welcome back in the world”. 

Julia looked at both of them and is very surprised to see them both there..  
“David. Mum. I am so happy to see you both. Which date is it?”  
“We are the 17th November, Julia”. Julia was shocked and speechless for several minutes.. just looking at them with disbelief..  
“It’s fine, love. I am sure the doctors will be very impressed by your recovery time. As always, you are best-in-class” said David reassuringly & smiling kindly at her. It was the first time he was using this pet name for her and she frowns.. David sees her reaction & smiles gently at her..

Frances calls the doctors in, they check Julia’s vital signs & reflexes and explain her the extent of her injuries. Julia asked Frances & David to stay for the explanations.  
Julia starts to cry when the doctors mention her amputated leg.. then when they have finished and leave the room, she asks her mum to give her & David some time to talk privately and Frances kisses her on the forehead & leaves them both after having gently squeezed her daughter & David’s hand. A kind gesture which didn’t go unnoticed by Julia..

“David, I want to you to leave and never come back” she says with an icy tone and not looking directly at him.  
“No, Julia. I am not going to leave, unless you did not mean what you said just before the bombing and you do not have feelings for me”  
Julia starts crying again.. “David, you are too young to waste your time with a disabled woman. I am a waste of time”  
“Julia, I love you. You said you wanted me right beside you, not because it was my job but because it was our choice. I am here, right beside you, because I love you and because it’s my choice” “If you still want me” he adds with a lower voice..  
“You are wonderful Julia. You are the most intelligent person I know. You are truly caring, gentle, persistent and self-confident. You are beautiful, sexy & hot. I can’t imagine my life without you. You were able to see through my PTSD and see who I really am”.  
“Together we can overcome everything. I am seeing the occupational health doctor and I am slowly getting better. With some reeducation, you will walk again, swim again, ride a horse again and whatever you want to do”

Julia cries and smiles at him at the same time: “I love you David and I will fight to get a proper life back. I want to spend the rest of my days with you, by your side”.  
He smiles back at her, carefully lays down beside her in her hospital bed & hugs her tight. They kiss deeply putting all their feelings in it and both drift into a peaceful sleep, David finally able to sleep properly for the first time since the bombing.

This is how Frances find them when she comes back inside the room. She kindly smiles at the happy couple and leaves the room tip-toeing to avoid to wake them up. For the first time since the attacks on Julia’s life, she is happy & full of joy, feeling confident her daughter will be fine and that she will get all the support she needs from a lovely (and very sexy) man who loves her for who she really is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Confessions 
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	3. Confessions

The next day, Frances arrives at the hospital and she is happy to see Julia & David chatting happily together. 

Frances & David bring Julia up to speed about what happened in the aftermath of the bombing (the enquiry, the arrest of the suspects Luc Aitkens, Lorraine Craddock, Nadia Ali and the fact their whole networks have been dismantled) and what happened in the UK since the bombing, Vosler was forced to resign and Hunter-Dunn the same. Mike Travis is the acting Home Secretary and the Country is looking for a Prime Minister. Anticipated Elections are going to be organized and Julia will have to decide soon if she wants to run or not. However, there is an on-going investigation for “abuse of power” from Julia & “gross misconduct” from David to be finalized first.

David has already been interrogated and he told the truth: yes, he & Julia have been romantically involved when he was still her PPO (they had the recordings from her Blackwood’s room as evidence anyway, there were no points denying it) and they had decided to end their work relationship on the day of the bombing, in order to be publicly together. David acknowledged the breach of conduct but insisted on the fact that the relationship was totally consensual on both sides and that there was never any coercion from neither of both. The fact that David was seeking help and changing job to undertake the Detective Inspector training has also been positively perceived. Julia decides to take an appointment with the investigators asap, in order to clean her sheet and decide freely to run for PM or not, without this sword of Damocles above her head.

Julia’s involvement with the Kompromat has not been made public knowledge and there is not internal investigation on that matter as Anne Sampson is the one who leaked the Kompromat & not Julia. Neither Vosler nor David mentioned her visit to Chequers the day before the bombing –Vosler to avoid to become a potential suspect in the attempt on her life & David to protect her and to keep his promise not to mention it to anyone.

Frances leaves them alone and David takes Julia’s hands in his and looks straight into her hazel eyes and says: “Julia, I need to confess 4 things, because I do not want to hold any secret from you”. Julia stiffs immediately and put her unreadable politician mask on”. David frowns but continues: “I love you to the moon & back, I want to be in a serious relationship with you, I want to build a future together, I really want us to work & I want to spend the rest of my life by your side. That’s why I want you to know what I am about to tell you, even if I know I might lose you”. Julia looks really worried for a split second but quickly recovers and glances him one of her killer look which freezes so many people on the spot. But David continues, seemingly unaffected (at least externally). “I am not as good as you with words and I am not good at expressing my feelings but I will do my best so, please, listen to me until the end and do not interrupt me”. 

Julia nods with her best “Ice Queen” look but he still holds her hands and she does not push him away.

David clears his throats and starts to talk: “The 1st thing I want you to know is that before I met you, I had a lot of resentment towards you, because of your politics, especially regarding your position towards the Middle-East. On my first day as your PPO, you were bitchy, brutal and condescending. Then you asked me if I was the officer who prevented the 1st of October Rail Attack and I saw admiration in your eyes and you did something I wasn’t expecting at all: you apologized! That’s when I started to see the real woman behind the Home Secretary façade. I became attracted by your intelligence, hidden softness, the way you really care about people including my son’s schooling and of course your beauty, femininity & self-confidence. So here I was, trying to despise you but actually starting to fall for you”. He pauses and looks at her but she doesn’t flinch. 

He continues: “I enjoyed looking at you the whole day, especially when you were biting your pen or pencil whilst concentrating on a document –sometimes I was dreaming of you biting my lips like that- or when you were walking in the corridor with your beautiful long legs and your sexy hips movements. I became obsessed with you, thinking about you all the time, dreaming of you in my arms and all the things I wanted to do to you”. He pauses again and sees a hint of a smile on her face, quickly dismissed on her poker face. 

He sighs and goes on: “then we shared that Fish & Chips meal in your den and I realized I was totally falling for you. After the Thornton Circus attempt on your life, when you called me to debrief in your hotel room, I was very uncomfortable as all I wanted to do was to hold you tight. Then it happened. We made love for the first time, it was so sweet & shy and the connection between us was instantaneous and so intense. I did not want to touch you at first as I knew my desire for you would be very difficult to hide and control. I was upset when after we have made love, you went to hide in the bathroom”. She does not react but he can tell by the way she squeezes his hands that she will come back on that later. The gentle squeeze gives him hope and he takes a big breath. 

“The 2nd thing I want to confess is that I knew personally the Thornton Circus shooter, Andy Apsted”. Julia withdraws her hands straight away from his, looking bewildered.  
“We have served together in Helmand. He was in the truck with me when we hit the IED and we were the only two survivors. I did not say it straight away as I did not want to be removed from your protection team, because I did not trust anybody else to protect you and because I was falling for you, as I told you before. That fact was later discovered during the investigation after St Matthew’s and it backfired on me and that was one of the reasons they started to suspect me, as Lorraine Craddock planned”. 

“Now, I am going to tell you the 2 worst things which might make you walk away from me, but I want you to remember I truly deeply love you and I really hope you will be able to find the strength and the love deep inside you to forgive me”. She nods slowly.  
He becomes very emotional and she could tell he was very upset and afraid of losing her.  
“One day, Craddock asked me to come into her office. Sampson was there as well. They started to lecture me about how bad & dangerous you were. They told me you knew about the potential attack on my kids school and that you sat back and let it happen. They tried to convince me to spy on you and figure out what you were up to with Security Services. Sampson was taking it very personally as you asked Security Services to investigate on the 1st October Rail Attack, instead of the police services. I started to refuse but they were not taking no for an answer. So I took the listening devices with me in the Blackwood but I did not want to use it. I should have told you straight away but honestly, I thought I would manage to go away with not telling them anything and that they will finally dropped it”. At that point, David was holding his fists against another and Julia could see the anger against his hierarchical superiors in his eyes. 

“But that’s not what happened. One day, Craddock summoned me in her office and I told her I had nothing to share, again. That’s when the situation I was in aggravated itself as they threatened to remove my family from the Safe House if I was not providing them with useful information asap. I was stuck against the wall and I recorded some of your conversations with Hunter-Dunn but I never gave them the recordings, I swear Julia I did not want to betray your trust but I really did not know what to do.. I had to choose between ratting the woman I was in love with or potentially put my kids in great danger.. I did the best I could to hold on any information which might incriminate you and only gave them pieces of not useful information. I swear I gave them the minimum level of information and I am adamant I would never do anything to expose you but in the same time, I had to keep my kids safe & keep my job”. 

“Julia, I have never mentioned to anyone your visit to Chequers, not even during the investigation after the bombing. I am and I will always do everything I can to protect you. You have to believe me, I love you and you can trust me.”

Julia is livid and not looking at him. Then she says with an icy tone: “you said there were 4 things you wanted to confess. What is the 4th thing then? What can be worse than spying on me?” 

“The 4th thing I want to tell you is that, when you were wrongly pronounced dead, I could not cope with it. I could not live without you and with your dead on my conscience. I was feeling so guilty to have failed you. I was really in a bad place before meeting you. You are the one who convinced me to get help which I did straight after the investigation ended. You saved me Julia”. His voice trembling and tears rolling down his eyes, he finally manages to tell her: “But that day, I just could not cope and I shot myself in the head”.  
Julia screams at him: “What? David, how could you do that? Your kids, they would have been fatherless! Because of me!”. David sighed and said:” Aitkens guys switched my bullets to blanks, which is why I am still here in front of you, begging you for your forgiveness”. 

Julia is looking at him with the darkest eyes he has ever seen from her, eyes which could throw daggers. Then she says: “for the records, after we made love for the 1st time, I went to hide in the bathroom because I was not able to handle it – whatever it was between us - yet. It was the first time I was making love in 8 years. I have never been attracted by anyone as I am attracted by you. I felt things I never thought I could ever feel again, my feelings for you were growing strong so quickly that it scared me to death. I needed to put some space between us to be able to handle it”.  
She pauses, looks at him straight in the eyes and said: “David, thank you for your honesty today, it must have been difficult for you to confess these things but I want you to leave now”.  
David says tentatively: “can I come back tomorrow, love”. Julia replies with a clearly annoyed tone: “stop calling me that”.  
“I can stop saying it, but that does not mean I am not feeling it”  
“Whatever. Now leave”  
“Can I come back tomorrow?”  
“Honestly David, I don’t know. Call me tomorrow at 2pm. I need some time alone”  
“I understand Julia, I am so sorry. I love you. Night Night”  
Julia doesn’t answer and avoids his gaze.  
David leaves the room, looking back at her, maybe for the last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Forgiveness
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	4. Forgiveness

“Julia, how are you doing? Where is David? Why are you crying?”

“Oh mum, please. Not now. It’s complicated. I am waiting for the investigator regarding the «abuse of power» accusation. Can you, please, help me to look presentable?”

Frances sighs and kindly helps Julia to put a nice camel cashmere top and some light make-up. She brushes her daughter’s hair and manage to curl it nicely. She was just leaving when Matthew Davon, Julia’s new PPO, knocks on the door. “Home Secretary, the investigator you are expecting is there. Do you want me to let him in?”.  
“Yes, please, let him in. Thanks PS Davon”

“Hello Miss Montague. My name is James Hoffner. Nice to meet you”. “Hello Mr Hoffner, nice to meet you”  
“I am here to take your deposition regarding the accusation of potential “abuse of power” in your relationship with your former PPO, PS David Budd”.  
“Do you admit starting an affair with PS David Budd whilst he was still your PPO?”  
“Yes, I do”  
“Can you, please, specify when exactly the relationship started?”  
“The night after the Thornton Circus attempt on my life”  
“Can you, please, specify how the relationship started?”  
“David saved my life that day and I asked him to come to my hotel room to discuss the events of the day with him. We both fell in each other’s arms after these very disturbing events”  
“Do you have forced PS David Budd in any way to start that relationship?”  
“No, never. It was totally consensual. Force or coercion were never used in any way from neither of us. We have breached the conduct code. We are totally aware of it, but we fell in love”  
“You fell in love?”  
“Yes”  
“I see. And are you still in a relationship with PS David Budd today?”  
“Yes”  
“At some point, did you decide to stop your work relationship?”  
“Yes, just before St Matthew’s event, we discussed it and we agreed to stop our work relationship, in order to be able to go public with our love relationship”.

“Thank you very much Miss Montague. Your deposition is totally aligned with what PS David Budd told us. From our perspective, there is no “abuse of power” but there is still misconduct from both of you. However, as PS David Budd has sought the help of the occupational Health Doctor and also has decided to stop working as a PPO, to take the Detective Inspector training, we do not plan to recommend any disciplinary measure against him. As you are concerned, there is clearly no evidence of any “abuse of power” and your private life must remain private. We will recommend the acting PM to let you recover from the bombing and not pursue any enquiry further”  
“Thank you very much Mr Hoffner. I appreciate your professionalism and your empathy. Have a good day”  
Frances comes back after her lunch and after the investigator left. 

“Did it go well, Julia?”  
“Yes, mum. The enquiry is finalized and no charge will be hold against me nor against David’.  
“Julia, this is great news. I am very happy for both of you. Is the investigation the reason why David is nowhere to be seen since this morning? “  
“No”  
“Julia, what happened? Let me in, talk to me”

Julia sighs: “David confessed 4 things to me yesterday after you left. He wants to be in a serious relationship with me and wanted no secret between us. He betrayed my trust. He was forced to spy on me by his bosses, who threatened to remove his family from the Safe House, and I believe him when he says he did not want to do it and that he gave them the minimum and that he would never expose me but still, at the end of the day, he betrayed my trust. And now, I don’t know if I can forgive him and trust him again. Forgiveness is not my strong suit”  
Frances sighs: “I see”. She pauses. 

“Julia, I have never and will never tell you what to do but let me just give you a small piece of advice here: David went above and beyond to identify those who were threatening your life. He was framed by his bosses and at some point he ended up in a square with a suicide vest strapped to his chest”  
Julia looks at her with utter disbelief. “What?”  
“Yes, we did not go into that level of details yesterday with David when we talked about the enquiry but David’s life was in great danger after the bombing. He managed to survive, to clear his name, to identify who was behind the attack and arrest them.  
“He spent each night by your side at the hospital, he was there every day, talking to you, reading to you, kissing you softly and holding your hands almost all the time. David really loves you Julia, and I think you really love him as well. If not, you would not even being talking about forgiveness”. 

“I asked him not to come today but to call me at 2pm. I need some time to process it all and find enough strength in myself to forgive him. As I said, it is not my strong suit. I have never been able to forgive myself dad’s death”  
“Julia, you never wanted to talk about it but there was nothing you could have done to save your beloved dad. He died of a devastating heart attack. Even with a doctor at his side, he would still have died instantly. Nobody could have saved him. Julia, you have to forgive yourself, and please, do all you can to forgive David. I have never interfered in your love life, but David is not Roger. He really loves you & cares about you”  
Julia’s phone is ringing. “It’s him, can you, please grab a coffee and come back later, mum?”  
“Of course, Julia. See you later”

Julia answer the phone. “Hello Julia, how are you doing today? Did you see some of the Doctors?”.  
She says with a neutral tone: “Hello David. I am OK, not great obviously but OK. I spent some time with the investigators for the potential “abuse of power” in our relationship and they are going to drop the case. No disciplinary measure will be taken against us”  
“This is really great news! I am relieved. Nothing is stopping you to run for PM now”  
“Indeed”  
“Is this what you are going to do then?”  
“This is not something I want to discuss over the phone. Can you, please, come and visit me tomorrow morning around 11am. We need to talk”  
“Yes, no problem. I will be happy to see you. I miss you”  
“I miss you too David. Bye for now”

David was feeling a little bit lighter and more positive after his phone call with Julia as she said “our relationship” and that she misses him. He plans to pick-up Ella & Charlie from school and go for an ice cream.  
Julia feels better after having heard his voice and more positive as well. She still needs some alone time but she knows she will forgive him, deep inside her heart.

Frances comes back in the room and for the first time since he died, they talk about Richard Montague for several hours. All the good memories coming back. At some point, Frances says: “your dad would have loved David”. Julia replies: “I know mum, I know”.  
Frances leaves very happy about her afternoon with her only beloved child and optimistic about her future with David. 

Julia doesn’t sleep well that night as she is overthinking the decisions to forgive David and to run for PM, which always was her long-term end goal, even if both decisions were deep down already taken.

At 11h, David knocks on her door. Julia, with the help of the very kind nurse, managed to put on a nice navy blue top with a boat neck, to apply some light make-up and to curl her hair a little bit.  
David enters the room with a very nice orchids bouquet and a Fish & Chips bag from the same shop when they ate some together in her den, the day before Thornton Circus. He is wearing a nice fitted dark navy blue jeans, a light blue shirt which is making the color of his eyes bluer, like a Carribean Sea.  
Julia really appreciates the handsome sight of him and the nice gestures, but she is still upset. She thanks him and let him kiss her on the cheek. He is still not out of the doghouse! They really need to talk.  
“David, let’s not avoid the elephant in the room and let’s go straight to the point”. David smiled internally, this is so much his Julia.. well, he hopes he will still be able to call her that..  
“I am not holding against you that you did not like me to start with. I know that you are not voting for the Tories and this is fine. I still do not need you to vote for me, remember, only to love me. And I fully understand, having witnessed the war first hand several times that you don't support some decisions to send troops to the Middle-East, even if risking the lives of some people aims to protect & save a lot of other lives. My day-to-day job is to take difficult decisions to protect & save as many people as possible”. David nods. 

“I understand you did not say you knew Andy Apsted. I know you did it to be able to continue to protect me”. 

“Regarding your self-attempt on your life, it still makes me very angry just thinking about it and about what could have happened if your bullets have not been switched to blanks. But I know you are in a much better place today and that you will never do it again”. David nods again.

“However, I am really struggling with you spying on me and the trust issue this brings out. I understand you were in a very difficult position, having to choose between your kids and me, this was terribly wrong from Craddock & Sampson and I can forgive you to have tried to handle it alone, and not sharing it with me to find a solution together. The issue is I don’t know how I will be able to trust you moving forward. I know you love me, you have proven your love & loyalty to me in so many ways and you will always do everything in your power to protect me”. She pauses and looks at David straight in the eyes: “As I told you, I am about doing the right thing and making the hard choices. And I know that trusting you again is doing the right thing”.

David does not waste any time and takes her in his arms within a second. He takes her face in both his hands and kisses her passionately. Julia responding eagerly and their tongues play together for several long minutes. They only stop to grasp some air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Running for PM
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	5. Running for PM

“David, even if I really enjoy our kissing, we have to stop, please. This is becoming a real torture not being able to get the release we both want”  
“I know Julia, I desire you so much, this is hurting not to be able to make you come hard and to hear you scream my name”  
Julia laughs: “You are going to regret these words Sergeant Budd. Remember: payback is a bitch”.  
David laughs too. “Aye, I know that, Ma’am”. They both smirk devilishly.

“Maybe, we could eat the nice lunch you brought and finish our conversation, there is something else we need to discuss”  
“Do you want to discuss your candidature to be the new UK Prime Minister?”  
“Indeed. You did not say “potential candidature”?”  
“No, because I know this is what you have always wanted to be”  
“This is indeed my dream since as long as I can remember, but as we are together as a couple now, I want to have your view on it. How would you feel about me running for PM, as my boyfriend?

“And what if I am not comfortable with it?”  
“Well, David, as I said, we are a couple. I want to know how you feel about it because your opinion counts, if you have some objections or doubts, I want us to talk about it and reach an agreement together. Me running for PM will affect our future as a couple obviously. We will have to move together to 10 Downing Street, we will get a lot of attention from the media and from the public. We will also need to protect your kids as much as possible from all the chaos created by a female Prime Minster having a relationship with her still-married father-of-2 ex-PPO. The press will have a field day for weeks or months even. There will be endless jokes about the “Bodyguard” movie, about the fact that you are 9 years younger than me – no doubt I will be called “Cougar” at least 100 times- I will be labeled “homewrecker” even if you & Vicky were separated, that will not make any difference”. She pauses. 

“So what do you honestly think, David?”  
David looks at her lovingly and simply answers: “I think you are the best Prime Minister our country can get, even if you are a Tory”.  
Julia smiles. David continues: “And also, for the records, I wanted it to be a surprise but it’s time for you to know that Vicky & I have started the divorce procedure on the 1st of November and as we have been separated for more than 2 years, the divorce will be quickly granted normally and we should be divorced by the 1st of March”.  
Julia smiles broadly: “I am glad” and she looks at him lovingly. 

Julia goes on: “I appreciate your full support David, I really do. But I am also a realistic person and I think we need to work together with my legal team, my PR team & Vicky to protect your kids as much as possible. My career and our decisions do not have to impact them negatively. When we will be ready, we will go public with our relationship and we will have our plan ready to mitigate the side effects as much as possible”. 

Julia is getting better and better each day. Her stump is completely healed. Her ribs, collarbone & right ulna are healed as well, so she is working with the hospital physiotherapist to walk with crutches to avoid to be in a wheelchair as much as possible and rebuild the strength in her arms and left leg. With the daily breathing exercises, her collapsed lungs are totally recovered as well. The burns are still recovering but most of them are healed. The scars will be the next thing to deal with, but Julia is surprisingly not too bothered.  
David asks her one day: “Julia, may I ask how you feel about your scars, love?”  
“I am obviously not happy about them but I am not too bothered neither, to be honest. I can see them fading already and I have discussed with the plastic surgeon to do some laser treatment soon. I also know you are not going to be put off by them and except on my hands, the other ones will be easy to hide. I am lucky not to have any on my face.” David nods, leans in & kisses her.

The doctors enter her room and break the good news she will be able to go back home soon. “Miss Montague, you will need to do some final exams, including another full MRI body scan, before being discarded and you will go to “The London prosthetic Centre” each day for some time but you will be able to come home each evening, whilst learning to put your prosthesis on, walk, swim,.. “  
David asks tentatively “Doctor, can you, please, tell me if as part of these exams, gynecological examination & tests are scheduled?”  
Julia is looking at him, totally stunned by his question. WTF..

David looks at her shyly and says “Love, I simply want to know if everything is OK on that side as well and if we will potentially be able to have kids together one day, if this is what we both want”. Julia asks the doctors to carry on the gynecological tests & examination too, without saying anything else but looking lovingly at David.  
All results & tests are OK (including the gynecological ones, which brought both lots of joy & hope, even if none of them mention it) and Julia is allowed to come home. Just before they set off, David asked the doctor if there are any last recommendation, especially regarding their intimacy and the doctor smiled gently at both of them and said there isn’t any recommendation nor interdiction. David nods and thank him for all he has done for Julia. 

David kisses softly Julia and wishes her luck for her press conference before heading to his car. As they do not want to announce their relationship to the world yet - they agreed that they want more time to prepare themselves & enjoy their time together privately first. On top, the main message of today’s press conference is that Julia is running for PM, not that she is in a relationship with him - he will go to her flat by himself and enter discretely by the backdoor.

Julia is heading proudly to the small scene in front of the press with the crutches and she manages to stand with only one crutch. And then out of the blue, all journalists stand up and applause. Julia is very moved by that nice gesture and she warmly thank them with a lot of emotion in her voice. 

One of the journalist shouts: “how are you feeling, Home Secretary?”  
“Much better, thank you very much for asking” then she starts to speak: “First of all, I want to deeply thank all the doctors, nurses, medical assistants and all hospital staff for their good work, kindness and empathy. I have been through very difficult times and I am very grateful to be able to stand here, in front of all of you today. I have to work hard on my rehabilitation for the next few weeks, but I am confident I will recover at 100%. 

I would like to thank the Metropolitan Police Forces for all their good work to identify the people behind the several attempts on my life, especially the SO15 branch and Commander Anne Sampson in particular.

Finally, Mike Travis has done an outstanding job as acting Home Secretary and I am stepping down as Home Secretary today, knowing that he will continue our mission to protect the British Citizens”. There is a lot of noise coming from the journalist’s crowd and Julia raises her hand to silence them. 

“I am stepping down as Home Secretary because I am running up as Prime Minister Candidate during the elections scheduled in January. As we speak, my website “www.julia4PM.co.uk” is being open and you will find a detailed Press Release with my program if I am elected as the next UK Prime Minister and what I plan to do for our fabulous country. Thank you”. And she leaves the stage with a broad smile, walking towards her ministerial car confidently with her 2 crutches. 

David who watched her speech in her flat on her flat screen huge television is smiling broadly, feeling very proud that this wonderful woman he loves more than anybody is actually in love with him and wants him right beside her. He knows it’s going to be complicated and that they will have to face a massive shit storm when they will go public, but he knows it will definitely be worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Coming back home
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	6. Coming back home

On her way to her flat, Julia’s phone is ringing and she sighs when she sees the caller ID. She really wants to decline the call but she knows it will only postpone this unpleasant moment: “What do you want, Roger?”  
“Hello to you too, Julia. I am the Chief whip, maybe you should have let me know you were going to resign today & run for PM?”.  
“Fuck off, Roger. I know everything about your little conspiracy to stop me snatching the key to Number 10. Watch.me”. And she hangs up.  
She knows she still have to be careful with Roger, but she doesn’t want to give him the upper hand and show any weakness.

Julia arrives at her flat, she closes the front door and David stands by the stairs, walking towards her with a massive smile.  
“Congratulations for your Press Conference, love. It was great! And all that on one crutch” he said proudly.  
He doesn’t give her the time to answer and he romantically lifts her in his arms and carries her up the stairs in her apartment.

He had arranged a “Welcome Home” banner on the top of her flat's door.  
“Welcome Home, love” then they move inside and he puts her gently down on the sofa in the den. There are “Welcome Home” balloons everywhere in the room. Julia is very moved and kiss him softly on the lips with glassy eyes.

He goes in the kitchen and he asks her if she wants something to drink. She answers she just wants him to sit down with her. He comes back with a massive flower bouquet with lavender & roses. She is very touched by all these attentions and a little bit emotionally overwhelmed. 

He sits down & she snuggles in his arms. He hugs her tight. Then she starts to kiss him, caress him, unbutton his shirt,..  
Julia can feel David is hesitant, so she says: “David, I am still not the Queen, you are allowed to touch me”  
David cups her face gently in his hands and looks at her intensely in the eyes: “You are my Queen, Julia. I love you. Do you hear me? I love you“  
She jumps on him, answering in a breath “I love you and I desire you more than anything else. Here. Now”. That is the permission David was waiting for and he starts to reciprocate the kisses, undresses her carefully and for the first time sees the extent of the scars on her body. She looks at him intensely and says: “nasty view”. David answers, looking at her straight in the eyes: “You are beautiful Julia. I am so sorry for not having being able to protect you better. I love you, entirely, fully, you are alive and you are mine”. She did not answer but attacks his mouth hungrily & passionately and they make love on the sofa, then they christen Julia’s bed and Julia’s shower. They clearly missed each other a lot. Julia’s amputated leg does not cause any issue at all in their lovemaking, they completely forget about it during the whole night and even if David is very gentle to start with as he is afraid to hurt her or causes her pain, after Julia had said very buntly: “David, go for it, you are not going to break me”.. it became quickly more rough, raw & feral as they both like it.

After they both come back from their post-orgasmic highs, David asks Julia when exactly she fell in love with him. 

Julia feels suddenly very uncomfortable. “David, it’s not easy for me. I find it hard to express my feelings”.  
“Let’s build a fort with the sheets and the blankets, as we have done at the Blackwood”.  
They lie in bed, facing each other, with one leg entangled. David kisses her gently on her forehead. Julia relaxes and slowly starts to speak. 

“You are obviously very handsome – I remembered thinking that you were coming straight from a QG magazine photoshoot when Kim introduced you. So I was physically attracted by you from the moment I laid my eyes on you”. She blushes but she continues “you have a strong personality, you are able to stand up to me, like you did on that very first day as my PPO when you asked Terry to change the route to come back to my flat and to tell me to let you do your job. You are a very kind person, you lent me your shirt for the Andrew Marr’s interview without any hesitation. That was very noble. When you speak about your kids, you are so caring & such a loving father. You are also a hero – your heroic actions on the 1st October Rail attack really impressed me, I really admire you David. You also have a strong sense of humor and a sharp mind”  
“So I became more and more attracted by you, but I was telling myself that nothing could ever happen between us because you were my PPO, because you were married and because I was too old for you,.. “. She pauses. 

“I think the breaking point (of my resistance) was when you told Roger you were mixed-race to get me inside the House. I was bluffed by your sense of repartee and also by your ability to stand for me in front of Roger which not a lot of people are able to do. You definitely got me that day! Then we had our heated verbal exchange regarding the Middle-East, so our relationship went several steps back. After the attack on your children’s school and your removal from my protection team, I realized I was really missing you and the fact you were making me feel safe, really safe. I totally lost it one day during a meeting with Anne Sampson. I asked for your reintegration. I really realized I was falling for you when we had our dinner in the den. Then there was Thornton Circus attack and you know the rest of the story”  
At that David enlaces her and makes love to her again, very slowly & gently, their orgasms building up slowly and they both come at the same time. Then they both fall in a peaceful sleep entangled. 

Julia wakes up in David’s arms in her bed for the first time. She stirs and tries not to wake him up but sleeping with a vet who struggled with PTSD & sleepless nights for years tends to make that difficult. David open his eyes and smiles at her.  
“Good morning, love. Did you sleep well?”  
“The best night I have ever had: in my house, in my bed and most importantly in the arms of the man I love” and she gently kisses him. David removes her nightie in mere seconds and attacks her bottom lip hungrily and kisses her all over, again and again. They can't get enough of each other.

Later that day, David is studying for the Detective Training and Julia is working on her PM campaign on her computer; lying on the bed half-naked.  
“Julia, how am I supposed to sit here planning my study program for the week with you over there looking like that?” She giggles and shrugs her shoulders before he reached her & attack her mouth passionately. They make love again very roughly this time, passion drives them up gears. After that they doze off for a bit in the arms of each other. 

Later, David says a little bit hesitantly: “Julia, I know it is maybe a bit early but I have got Ella & Charlie this weekend and, if you agree, I really would like to bring them over here to introduce you to them. How would do you feel about that?”  
“David, I would be very happy to meet Ella & Charlie and spend some time with them but what if it’s an unmitigated disaster?”  
”Everything will be fine, love. Stay yourself and relax”  
“It is very important for me David, I want our relationship to work and it will definitely be easier if I get along with Vicky and build a good relationship with your kids. What if they do not like me?”  
“Don't worry, love. Talking to my kids is much more easy than talking to some very difficult other countries leaders. You will be fine. And you have got a whole life of horse riding to share with Ella and Charlie is a massive Chelsea FC fan, as I know you are”  
“How do you know that?” she retorts defensively.  
“I have seen your Chelsea blue mug in the cupboard whilst I was preparing you a cuppa the other day”.  
“Mmm, I see. No point denying it then. Yes, I admit, I am a Chelsea fan and I enjoy watching football with a good beer in hand”. David smiles: “Now we are talking. This is my girl”. Julia laughs.  
“And which football team do you support, David?”  
“I am a Celtic fan of course!”  
“Of course”  
They both laugh out loud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for fun, I have integrated some quotes from GoT. I love Robb Stark
> 
> Next Chapter: Meeting Ella & Charlie
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	7. Meeting Ella & Charlie

“David, what are Ella & Charlie favorite games?“

“Charlie likes to play with Legos & he likes cars. Ella loves anything related to horses & fashion. She also reads a lot, she likes books with horses like “Spirit Riding Free””

“Can you, please, be a bit more specific? What type of Legos? What type of cars? Does he like remote-controlled cars? I can’t bring horses in my flat and I can’t attend a fashion show with Ella, not until we are an official couple & have gone public. Do they like board games? I am really good at chess, I like playing Monopoly, Connect 4, Uno & cards games. Do they like that?”

“You do like Board Games?”

“Yes, that’s what I have just said, David. In plain English”

“Easy, Tiger. I am just very amazed. You will never stop surprising me”.

“So to answer your question, yes, they like all these board games and I think Ella would love to learn to play chess. Charlie likes miniatures cars, he has started a collection. He likes all Legos, but more specifically the Harry Potter & Star Wars collections”

“OK, great! And do they both like Harry Potter & Star Wars? Or is it only Charlie? And do you think he would like an electric car circuit? I have always wanted one when I was a child. Does Ella likes make-up? Barbies?”

“They both love Harry Potter & Star Wars. They also like Classical Disney Movies. Charlie’s favorite is “Jungle Book” and Ella’s favorite is “The little Mermaid”. Yes, Charlie would love an electric car circuit and yes, of course, Ella likes make-up & Barbies”

“Does Charlie have the Millennium Falcon already?”

“No, it is very expensive. Julia, you do not have to buy stuffs for my kids”

“David, if they start to come here, they will need toys, stuffed animals, board games & other stuff. I will rearrange the guestroom to fit a bunk bed in it. This is normal. I want them to feel as comfortable as possible” 

“I am very happy and touched you want to do some amendments to your flat for my kids but I want to share the costs and I don’t want you to buy many gifts for them, and no expensive gifts that Vicky & I can’t buy”

“David, there is another option than sharing the costs of the amendments. Maybe you could actually move in, in here, with me and bring their bunk bed here, in the guest room?”  
There is a long silence. 

“David, I am sorry if this is too soon for you that we move in together. Forget it”

“Julia, I'm just speechless. I would love to move in with you. I really do. I just think that it would be better to do it step-by-step with Ella & Charlie. I want to introduce you as my girlfriend first, give them some time to get used to it and then I would love to move in with you and bring their bunk bed in your guestroom. 

“Our guestroom” corrected Julia. “If we move in together, this would become our flat David. Regarding your second point, I don’t intend to buy them extravagant & overpriced gifts, don’t worry. I do not want to cross the line. I am a massive Star Wars fan, I always loved Lego myself so I would be very happy to build the Millennium Falcon with Charlie, and Ella if she wants to”.

“OK, love. I did not know you were a Star Wars fan”. 

“I am indeed and I have read all the Harry Potter’s books & seen all the movies. I have met J.K. Rowling several times during some public events and she is very sweet. I even might have her phone number actually, I am sure I can organize a meeting between your kids & her”

“Waouw! And you know all the Disney movies by heart as well?” jokes David

“Actually, yes. Maybe not the recent ones, but I know the classics… by heart”  
David can’t stop himself and laughs.

“Hey David, you are not allowed to make fun of me. On a more serious note, do they have any food allergy? Or food they really don’t like? Do they like baking cakes?”  
“No allergies known yet. They are not massive fan of cauliflower, spinaches and cooked carrots, but for the rest, they are not fussy. They love baking cakes, cookies, pancakes, you name it!“

“That’s great. We will have fun with them this weekend”

“Julia, may I ask you a very intimate question?”  
“Yes, David, of course”  
“Well, you seem to have a good knowledge of children. Have you ever thought about having a child?”  
There is a long silence. 

“Yes. I did” she pauses and there is another long silence. David doesn’t say anything, he just look at her tenderly and wait for her to speak when she is ready.

“1 year after my marriage to Roger, I brought up the topic but he said it would only be a brake on our careers, that it was still early in our marriage, that I was young, maybe later.. and then he started to cheat on me”. She pauses. 

“Our relationship went only downhill from there so I never talked about children again. We got divorced and I have not been in a serious relationship since, I have never been tempted by having a baby on my own and so I got used to the idea of never having children. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want any. But I am scared I might have left it for too long and it might be too late for me”

“Julia, thank you for sharing this with me. I want to share that my mum was 41 when she got pregnant with my sister. You are still young and you still have some time to make it happen, if this is what you want”

“And what about you, David?”  
“What about me?”  
“Do you potentially want to have more children?”

“I am totally happy with you the way we are. I never want you to feel pressured to have a baby with me. I love you deeply, I think you would be a wonderful mum and yes, I would love to have a baby with you, if that’s what you want. But I am happy with you, either way”  
Julia was overwhelmed, so she just nods and changes of topic

“Do Ella & Charlie have homework to do over the weekend?”  
“Yes, they do”  
“I will be happy to help on that matter”  
“Great, because they both have quite a lot of work to do, so it will be quicker if we are both helping them. Thank you”

It’s Saturday morning and Julia is very nervous as David has picked-up the kids on Friday after school and he will bring them over after having spent one evening & one night in his flat. 

They have decided to start with one night at Julia’s flat and a little bit less than 2 days as they will arrive around 11h on the Saturday and leave around 17h on Sunday which is the usual time Vicky is picking them up. That way, Julia will also meet her. 

She has decided to wear casual jeans & a beige cashmere oversized jumper, nude make-up and simple beige flats. David and his kids will be coming anytime soon. Julia is actually looking for it and is even impatient to meet them. 

There is a knock on the door. Julia’s heart is missing a beat. Then she exhales slowly, picks-up her courage and opens the door with a shy smile. 

David is standing in front of her, with Ella on his left side & Charlie on his right side. David smiles at her: “Hello Julia. These are my kids: Ella & Charlie”  
“Ella, Charlie, this is my girlfriend Julia”

“Hello there. She kisses David briefly on one cheek and then she squats down to be at his kids’ level and she reaches out to Ella first. 

“Hello Ella, it’s a pleasure to meet you”.  
Ella shakes her hand and says: “likewise Miss Montague”.  
“Please, Ella, call me Julia”. 

Then she reaches out to Charlie who is a bit hiding behind David’s leg.  
“Hello Charlie, it’s a pleasure to meet you”.  
Charlie shakes her hand, looks at her with a worried look and says: “Hello, can I call you Julia as well?”.  
“Of course Charlie. You look a bit worried, why?”  
Charlie is hesitating and finally says: “Does it hurt?” Pointing at her amputated leg.  
David wants to start to talk to reprimand him but Julia is quicker and replies: “That’s very kind of you to ask Charlie, no it does not hurt. Some people have what they call “phantom pains” - which is pain on the missing member- but I haven’t experienced that. I will start my reeducation on Monday actually, so hopefully, next time we see each other, I will have a “fake leg” which is called prosthesis”.  
Charlie smiles at her before adding: “I am happy for you”.  
“Thank you Charlie”. Julia smiles genuinely at him. 

They all enter the flat and Ella exclaims: “Waouw, I love your flat!” “Thank you Ella. Let me do the tour of it for you two and show you your room”.  
“Our room?”  
“Yes, of course, you will have a room here. You two are very important for your father, and very important for me too”

When they enter in the livingroom, David notices an additional white lacquered modern cupboard with colorful doors next to the television. This is definitely new and not in the style of the other furniture of her flat. 

Julia proudly announces to the kids that this is their cupboard and tell them to open it to see what’s inside. 

Ella is opening one of the doors and finds some books, including all the books of “Spirit Riding Free”, another one with Barbies and Barbie’s clothes, one with make-up, nail vanish, brushes, hair elastics & ribbons,.. and a massive one with board games with some looking old or 2nd hand. 

Julia looks at them: “I love to play board games, so the “old” ones are actually mine that my mum kept in the attic of our family house in Cheltenham, in case I have kids one day”

Charlie opens another door & finds the Millennium Falcon to build in Legos. He is ecstatic! 

Julia is really happy: “I am a massive Star Wars fan myself so I was thinking we could build it together, what do you think?”.  
“Yes, that’s great, thanks Julia”. In another one, he founds an electric car circuit.  
David jumps in: “I have always wanted to have one of these when I was a kid, I will be very happy to build it & play with you”. Julia can’t stop herself and laughs, kindly looking at David. 

Julia shows them the rest of the flat, they really liked the “Death Star” picture with David Cameron and are very impressed.  
Ella says: “Waouw, Julia, you must be a very famous person if you know David Cameron!”. 

Julia smiles kindly: “well, to quote Rajneesh – a famous Indian Spiritual Master- “Fame is foolish, it is pointless, meaningless. Even if the whole world knows you, how does it make you richer? How does it make your life more blissful? How does it help you to be more understanding, to be more aware? To be more alert, to be more alive?” 

Ella looks at her a little bit rattled.. “Sorry, Julia, I don’t understand what that means”.. 

Julia says: “simply that fame is not important in life. Real things like family, love, happiness and values are amongst the most important things in life”. 

Ella looks at Julia with a lot of admiration and for the first time, hugs her.  
Julia is very surprised by this sudden display of affection but she hugs her back and smiles at her. All of that happening in front of David who has to hide his face from them as his eyes were becoming glassy.

Then Julia adds: “Ella, just so that you are not surprised if it happens, I am actually working towards being the next UK Prime Minister, as David Cameron was”  
Ella’s eyes widens and she said: “Waouw, I really like that! Go Julia! Girl Power”  
Julia laughs and it reminds her the “Spice Girls” time during her youth. 

They start to build the Millennium Falcon all together until lunch time. 

They prepare pizzas all together – Julia had bought 4 pizza doughs and they all add the ingredients they like & then put them in the oven. They have ice cream for dessert.

Then they continue to build the Millennium Falcon for a bit before David suggest the kids do their homework.

Charlie thanks Julia to having helped him to enter into his new school. He says he loves it, he can now read properly and he asks if he can show her. She says “of course, I would love to”

Julia explained to both that she suffered from school bullying herself, for being best in class, taller than most boys and braces.

They do their homework quietly whilst Julia works a bit on her campaign on her computer. 

Then they play Monopoly all 4 together and Julia wins, of course. Charlie & David play a bit together with the Nintendo Switch. Julia & Ella make up each other. 

In the evening, they all watch Harry Potter with pop-corn, crisps, cherry tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, cheese & crackers, like a dinner aperitif. 

Then Ella & Charlie shower & go to bed. 

Julia & David stay a bit later, watching the football recap on Sky Sports before going to bed.  
“Your kids are really great, David. I hope they like me, because I already love them a lot”  
“I am sure they like you Julia, we had such a great day today and you really are a natural around kids”  
Julia blushes slightly at the compliment. 

They have a lazy Sunday morning, they eat breakfast, they bake a great banana cake for the afternoon tea. 

For lunch, Julia orders some hamburgers from Honest Burgers and then Charlie & Julia play with the electric car circuit whilst Ella & David read some books.

On the Sunday afternoon, they are all watching “The Little Mermaid” and then out of the blue Ella says to Julia: “Julia, do you know that there is a sequel to this movie?”  
“No, I didn’t know actually. What is the story of the sequel about?”  
“It is called “Little Mermaid 2” and they have a baby together. Are you and dad going to have a baby? I would love to be a big sister again one day. Lots of my friends at school with divorced parents have new siblings”

Julia is gobsmacked for several seconds then she answers, avoiding David’s gaze: “maybe, we are not there yet Ella, first your dad & I want to enjoy our time together, with you two and we will also see if nature will allow it as I am quite “old” to have a baby”. 

“Julia, you are not old and you are beautiful”  
“Well, thank you Ella, you are very sweet but from a mother-to-be perspective, I am considered as “old”. We will see, OK”  
“OK, I hope it will happen though”

David does not say anything but noticed that Julia did not answer a straight “NO” and it gives him hope, but he promised himself not to pressure Julia on the topic.. he knows it’s not something 100% natural to her.. well, at first sight.. but he also knows that deep down somewhere, the desire of being a mum one day is there.

The bell is ringing, Julia gets up to open the door and she takes a deep breath before opening it to meet Vicky for the first time.

“Hello Julia”.  
“Hello Vicky”  
“Nice to meet you” they say at the same time which make them smile. They shake hands warmly.  
Ella & Charlie run towards Vicky, very excited and start to explain all the activities they have done together, all the games they have played & the food they have eaten. 

Vicky smiles gently then says to Julia: “That’s great, thank you for doing all this for them”.  
“No need to thank me Vicky, this is completely normal. Did you have a good weekend as well?”  
“Yes, thank you very much Julia. Yesterday, Andrew took me to the Sanctuary Spa in Covent Garden, we went to the movies last night and we had a nice brunch today at “The Breakfast Club” London Bridge.  
“That sounds great! Andrew seems like a keeper!”  
“I hope so, yes”

“Julia, I want to thank you for helping Charlie to go to that special school. This is doing wonders for him. He is really a happy boy now. I also want to say that I haven’t seen David that happy & balanced for years. You make him very happy and I am very happy for you two”. Julia is beaming and smiles at her.

“I also really appreciate everything you are doing & putting in place to protect the kids when you will go public. You really care for them, David & even me”  
“Of course, you as well, Vicky. Your life does not have to be disturbed because of my choice of career. That would not be fair”. 

After Vicky has left with the kids, Julia & David sit on the sofa, cuddling. 

“This is so quiet now. Too quiet actually”  
“I know, I am always a bit down after they leave”  
“I really had a nice weekend David. I am really looking forward for the next one”

“You are wonderful Julia. Seeing you putting so much effort to prepare everything for my kids for this weekend, having fun with them, laughing with them, kissing them, cuddling them, it really makes me fall in love with you even more, if that was possible. 

David leans in and kisses her, softly first then he deepens the kiss & they remove all their clothes quickly & make love on the sofa, as last night they preferred not to do anything to avoid to risk to be heard by Ella & Charlie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Rehabilitation
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	8. Rehabilitation

David wakes-up first. He does not move and he admires the beautiful woman lying in bed on his left. He studies her face totally relaxed in her sleep, he listens to her heartbeat, watches her chest rises & falls with the rhythm of her heart. He feels so happy & so whole. Suddenly, she starts to stir and her heart starts to pound frantically in her chest. Her face starts to contortion with pain, she starts to shake then she screams and opens her eyes suddenly. 

“Julia, it’s OK. It’s me. You are safe. Nobody is hurting you. I am here. I am protecting you. I will never let anything bad happen to you. Julia, look at me, love. Look at me, breath in, breath out and count with me slowly: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,… ”. And he takes her in his arms and hugs her tightly. Rocking her in his arms like he would do with one of his children and pampering feather kisses on her cheeks, temples, forehead,..  
Julia calms down slowly. 

David hesitantly says: “Julia, I think you need some help to deal with some Post Traumatic Stress due to St Matthews & Thornton Circus. You have been through a lot in a very short time period, love”.  
“Yes, you are right”. She pauses. 

“I am getting some help since I woke up from the coma to deal with the psychological effects of a long period in the coma and I am also facing survivor’s guilt. I have met some other St Matthew’s survivors and we had some “group therapy”, it helped us all a lot. I have a meeting planned with Kim’s parents next week, it will help me to finalize my grief process. Kim was in my team for several years and we had a good relationship. I miss her every day”. She pauses and sighs heavily.

“I also have some symptoms of PTSD, mainly nightmares and an overall anxiety. I will continue these sessions with that psychotherapist. We agreed I do not need medication. I am following “Cognitive Processing Therapy” which is a 12-week treatment with weekly sessions of 60-90 minutes. At first, I am talking about the traumatic event with my therapist and how my thoughts related to it have affected my life. Then I write in detail about what happened. This process helps me examine how to think about my trauma and figure out new ways to live with it. We have agreed to use this technique as I like to write things out, my past as a barrister is never far away. Finally, I will get some additional psychological follow-up at the reeducation center, specifically to deal with the amputation”. 

Julia and David are getting ready and they go together to the reeducation center. David has insisted to come with her for the first day to listen to all the explanations & see how he can support her best. They arrive and Julia is walking proudly with one single crutch. 

The Head Doctor in charge of Julia’s reeducation welcome her at the main entrance and David introduce himself as Julia’s partner. The doctor compliments him to be there and David replies this is totally normal to be here and supports Julia. He also says he wants to be an active part in Julia’s recovery process, learn how he can help her to work at home and if he can eventually learn some massages to speed up her recovery & reduces any potential pain.

The doctor starts with some “basics”. "Immediately after the amputation, priority has been given to your recovery and the healing of your stump, two essential steps before starting rehabilitation and being fitted. To start rehabilitation: you should not (or almost) no longer feel pain in your stump, your stump must be able to support a load, the edema should have subsided and stabilized and you should be able to move your stump as much as possible in all directions. From what your doctor told me, you are ticking all the “boxes” and we can therefore start”.  
Julia nods. 

“Whilst you were at the hospital, the doctors have asked you to do some movements exercises, some exercises to build back your muscles (torso, arms & legs) to prepare your body for rehabilitation. You have also strained your stump. These exercises prevent stiffening of muscles and joints. Also familiarize yourself with movement patterns that your amputated leg is not used to”

“Today, we are going to work on the so-called prosthesis that you will wear between 3 to 6 months. At the end of this period, we will manufacture your final prosthesis. First, we will show you how to wear the prosthesis, without hurting yourself, to stand straight and put some weight on it and then how to walk with it.”

“What are the other activities you would like to be able to do, Miss Montague?”  
“I am a keen horse-rider since I am 6 years old and a keen swimmer”. She pauses then says tentatively: “I also would like to learn some self-defense movements, so I suppose this will require to be able to compensate my right side with my left side”  
David looks at her very surprised.  
“Julia, do you want to learn self-defense?”  
“Yes, I do”  
“With whom?”  
“Preferably you David, with the help of the doctors and physiotherapists here to assist you and avoid to hurt myself with the prosthesis”.  
“Alright love, I will be very happy to do that and I think this is a brilliant idea to help you with your self-confidence”.  
The doctor nods. “Indeed, this is a very good idea Miss Montague” 

“Do you have any other goal? Short-term or longer term?”  
“Well, obviously my main goal is to walk as soon as possible with a prosthesis and without a crutch and I also want to be able to dance @ the New Year’s Eve ball with David”  
“Very well, this is definitely achievable, especially with your overall good shape & your strong determination”

“Thank you. I am also running my campaign from London at the moment, but I need to be able to go on tour in the UK & visit people in other cities. I don’t want to give the impression that I am weak and that I am not fit to be Prime Minister. I have fought all my life to get there and I won't let anything or anyone get in my way!”  
“Very well, I fully understand that and that means we will have to work on your ability to stand for some period of time”

The doctor hesitates but then asks carefully: “We also do silicone cosmesis and I was wondering if you would be interested for the scars on your hands, we could try scarring restoration. We have the capacity and skills to produce high-quality cosmetic covers that will make a positive difference to your daily life”.  
“I will consider it, but this is not my priority. My priority is to walk with a prosthesis and no help” 

“Let’s go back to your prosthesis. As you know, a prosthesis replaces your missing limb and is made up of several components depending on your level of amputation. The socket forms the interface between the stump and the prosthetic components. It has a significant impact on your comfort and the functionality of the prosthesis. Adapters and connecting elements allow the different prosthetic components to be assembled together. Once the shape of the socket has been validated after several tests and the prosthetic components selected, the orthopedic technician assembles the various elements and adjusts the alignment according to the examination results and the alignment guidelines in force. When the prosthesis is fitted, it makes additional connections with technical equipment to adapt the prosthesis to your profile. You can then take the first steps with your new prosthesis”.  
“Do you have any question so far?”  
“No” 

“As I said, we will start with a Trial prosthesis which allows you to quickly practice wearing and using a prosthesis. This step is necessary because it contributes to good healing of the stump and promotes its shaping. This phase also makes it possible to try and validate the prosthetic components so that the prosthesis best meets your needs. When the stump is stabilized and the tests are completed, your orthopedic technician then manufactures the definitive prosthesis, perfectly adopted”  
“The doctors at the hospital have taken the imprint of your stump, so we have already prepared a Trial prosthesis that we can try this morning, if you feel ready”  
“I am more than ready” says Julia, beaming.

“Perfect, than this afternoon you will try to put the trial prosthesis on yourself for the 1st time after we have potentially done some adjustments to it, after the 1st try this morning. You will meet the physiotherapist to show you some movements to do at home to continue to improve your mobility and also some massages you or David can do. Finally, you will meet the psychologist”

The trial prosthesis try is a bit mitigated as Julia experiences some pain. The doctors & technicians are re-assuring and are working on the adjustments during the rest of the morning & lunchtime. 

David and Julia are having lunch together.  
“David, I am really happy that you are here with me today. It means a lot to me. Thank you”  
“Julia, this is totally normal for me being here today. It is an important day in your rehabilitation process and I want to share this moment with you, show you my support and see how I can support you even more, moving forward”  
“I am not used to that, you know. Roger has never supported me”  
“And what about your parents?”  
“My father has always been very supportive, my mum as well but she was worried for me all the time as well - about my very long hours of work, the impact on my health & my personal life”.  
“I have discussed a lot with your mum whilst you were in the coma. She loves you very much and she is deeply worried about you, but also she respects your choices and she is trying to show her support as much as she can”  
“I know”  
“OK, so are you ready for the afternoon?”  
“Not fully. I think I need a hug and a proper kiss from my lovely boyfriend to give me more courage”  
“Boyfriend? Are we not too old to use that word?”  
“I don’t know.. I like it..”  
“OK for boyfriend then.. for the moment”  
Julia is puzzled but doesn’t reply.

“Hello, I am Charles, your physiotherapist. I am very honored to meet you Miss Montague”  
“Hello Charles, nice to meet you”  
“And you must be the famous David Budd?”  
“Err.. yes, nice to meet you Charles”  
“Charles, at the moment, David & I have not made our relationship public, so I count on your total discretion, please”  
“Don’t worry Miss Montague, your team has requested the staff to sign very strict NDA & we would lose our job if we were to talk to the press and I admire you so much, I would never do anything that could be prejudicial to you or David”  
“OK, thank you”  
“So let’s start!”

Charles show them several movements that Julia can practice as much as possible at home and then shows them some massages she or David can do easily. He also hands them out some print-outs to help them to memorize all the movements.

The second session to try on the Trial Prosthesis is going much better than the one in the morning. The adjustments make a huge difference and Julia manages to put it on at the third attempt. The doctors & David are very impressed. 

Julia is tired but quite positive about her day. Then they meet the psychologist.  
“Hello Miss Montague, I am Devon”  
“Nice to meet you Devon. Please, you can call me Julia”  
“And you must be David?”  
“Indeed, nice to meet you Devon”.  
“David, this is great of you to be here today to support Julia”  
“This is normal to me, I want to support her the best I can”

“Great, let’s start with some global information about the psychological impacts of amputation and then, if you agree, I would like to talk to each of you separately for a while”  
They both nod positively, so the doctor continues.  
“Amputation confronts the person with the immense difficulty of coping with the psychological shock caused by the amputation itself, by the alteration of the self-image that it constitutes, and the consequences which result from it. Amputation is to say a disability which is no longer recoverable, but only compensable. Without being able to keep his whole body, the subject considers himself devastated. Mourning will therefore be necessary in order to gradually recognize that, even deprived of a part of his body, the subject remains a living whole. The culmination of this work of mourning what we were before and accepting what we are now will thus allow the development of a new body image. This work of mourning will be carried out gradually, in stages”  
“Do you have any question so far?”  
“No” 

“According to the Kübler-Ross model, there are schematically five stages between the announcement or discovery of the amputation and its acceptance.  
The 1st stage is “denial”: the patient who has just had an amputation can’t accept reality, but this stage is usually short-lived”  
“I did not feel that way. It was a massive shock when I woke-up from the coma but I saw the stump immediately as it was almost healed completely. I cried a lot”

“The 2nd stage is “aggression and revolt”: the revolt is of course about the injustice of amputation, but all areas of thought or activity can be affected, and the slightest annoyance, even unrelated to health, can lead to unusual reactions”  
“My first reaction was to push David away. Despite the deep love I feel for him” 

“The 3rd stage is “bargaining”: at this point, the amputee begins to come to grips with his new situation, but will only accept part of the reality, and often only that which he thinks will allow him to live "almost as before". The amputee often refuses to follow the advice of the healthcare team or family, or refuses part of the treatment, on the pretext of uncertainty about how to react to the amputation”  
“Mmmm not sure I have been through that one. Bargaining is not really compatible with my temper”

“The 4th stage is “depression”: it is not a depression in the psychiatric sense of the term where there is loss of interests, absence of pleasure, absence of project, appetite disorder, sleep disorder, loss of self-esteem, feeling of "way." dead end ”, suicidal thoughts, etc. It is rather a bitterness (that is to say a resentment mixed with sadness caused by the observation of the definitive loss of something) with which is associated a question as to how the amputation can be integrated into the everyday life. It is therefore a phase of "depression" in the sense of "reduction of psychological pressure", with self-reflection and the hope of integrating amputation into everyday life. At this stage, information on amputation, fitting, etc. is well perceived because the initial defense mechanisms of aggression have been gradually replaced by a bearable psychological context allowing constructive thought mechanisms. The amputee is often silent, attentive, even meditative, sometimes also dubious, but the emotional load, which is less strong, allows listening and understanding of new principles of life. Information also allows the amputee subject to express his subjective experience, which is particularly important in order to be able to mourn what we were "before" and consider accepting themselves as they are "now".  
“I think I must be there”  
“We will see, we will discuss together is a few minutes”

“The 5th & last stage is “Acceptance”: this process of active acceptance goes through the complete disappearance of the feeling of inferiority and dependence, by the conviction of the possibility of a new way of life, by the development of a new amputated self-image, by the observation the ability to take charge of oneself. This active acceptance is also called “Knowing how to be”. However, it should be noted that active acceptance is not a definitive step, and that its maintenance sometimes requires significant efforts for the amputee and his entourage, especially during the inevitable hazards of life, professional, family, or other”  
David leaves the room to grab some coffee. Julia stays with Devon. 

“How do you feel today Julia?”  
Julia hesitates. There is a pregnant pause.  
Then she bursts out: “I am terrified”. 

“Thank you for sharing this with me, Julia. Can you, please, specify what are you afraid of exactly?”  
“My biggest fear is that David leaves me. Because he realizes I am a disabled old woman with a bad temper. I am scared he gets back together with his soon-to-be ex-wife. I am not used to feel that way. I have been an independent woman all my life, I did not need a man to make me happy and now if David and I spend one night apart, I don’t sleep well and I misses him. He makes me feel safe, at peace and whole”

“I am also scared I will never manage to walk on my own again and that being amputated will stop me to have a baby with David”  
“Why would that stop you?”  
“I have always doubted my ability to be a good mother. And since the amputation, that fear is worse than ever. I am scared not to be able to look after the baby properly, to carry the baby and later to run after the infant in case of any danger arises for example”  
“Do you want to have a child with David?”  
“Yes, I really do. David is a wonderful father to his 2 kids and he is giving me the desire to be a mother, for the first time in my life, even if I am scared it will be too late, due to my age”  
“We will work on that together as well then, if you agree”  
“Yes, please, that will definitely help me”

“Now moving on to more work-related question. Are you scared about the election?”  
“No, I have prepared myself all my life for that goal. I am not scared”  
“And are you scared to do a public speech?”  
“Well, I have always enjoyed to do public speeches, so not really. The first one will be a bit stressful, I suppose. But I will manage”  
“As we discussed earlier, amputation is lowering your self-esteem & self-confidence. In your case, it does not seem to be the case for things related to your work, position & running for PM campaign. It seems to be very oriented towards your love life and your emotions”

“I think you are still seeing the psychotherapist from the hospital regarding post-coma trauma, survivor’s guilt and PTSD which causes general anxiety & nightmares”  
“That is correct”  
“OK, so what we suggest, having discussed this with the Head Doctor this morning as well, is that in the morning you do physical exercises with the prosthesis, then we talk for a bit. Than you have your lunch with David, I think he insisted to eat with you every day”  
“Yes”  
“In the afternoon, you will start with your physio appointment, then physical exercises again, then we finish the day with another discussion”  
Julia nods then leaves the room and David comes back. 

“How do you feel today, David?”  
“I am very worried about Julia’s recovery but also very hopeful & positive to see she is such in good hands here”  
“Why do you worry so much about her? Do you feel guilty about what happened to her?”  
“I love her and I want her to be happy. Yes, I still feel guilty about not being able to avoid that bomb to blow her up and shatter her leg”

« Do you speak about having a baby together? »  
“Well, I mentioned it several times but I do not want her to feel pressured. I know she is thinking about it, but it seems to stress her out”  
“It is indeed, do you know why”  
“Well, I suppose she doubts her ability to be a good mother because she sets high standards in everything she does”

“I have been informed that you were seeing one of my colleague regarding PTSD issues”  
“Yes, I do”  
“How is it going?’  
‘I know it is a long road ahead, but I am slowly getting better. The medication also helps and I know I will not hurt Julia anymore”  
“Did you hurt Julia?” David explained what happened that night at the Blackwood, before St Matthews..  
“Do you know how Julia feels about it?”  
“Julia has been supportive, she said straight away she knew I did not want to hurt her and that I needed to get help. She has been able to see through it and see me for who I really am. I don’t think she is still thinking about it, even if I am still struggling to forgive myself”  
“OK, I will make sure we treat that topic during my sessions with her”  
“Thank you Devon”

Julia is progressing every day with the prosthesis and with the psychological sessions.  
One evening, David calls Vicky and he laughs with her on the phone.  
Julia sees red and asks him angrily: “Do you still love her David? If yes, you can leave and get back together!” David snaps back at her and shouts: « Oh stop this Julia! I am divorcing from Vicky. We will be finally divorced in March. We have a good co-parents relationship and are finally able to have a light conversation and laugh together. She will always have a special place in my heart as we have spent 12 years together and she is the mother of my children but I am in a romantic relationship with you Julia, I live with you, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I. Love. You. Never doubt that again”  
“I promise. I am sorry. My rehabilitation is work in progress and it brings back my insecurities. Thank you David for finding the words to re-assure me. I love you too.” 

Julia finally decides to try the silicone treatment on one of her hands. It will strengthen her self-confidence even more. 

After 2 difficult weeks and lots of ups & downs, one day, David arrives at the reeducation center to have their daily lunch and Julia walks towards him alone, without any help & all smiles. He runs towards her, outstretches his arms to reach her quicker, they cuddle and cry at the same time. That night they make love passionately several times to celebrate that victory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Going public
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	9. Going public

Julia spend 3 weeks at the reeducation center and just before Christmas, she decides to beef up her campaign as she feels more confident and she doesn’t look physically diminished compared to our competitors anymore. She feels strong emotionally & psychologically. She asks her team to organize an interview with Andrew Marr. 

There are more & more rumors about Julia being in a relationship with a mystery man. Julia & David decide together that it’s time for them to go public with their relationship and Julia suggests to use the Andrew Marr interview to do so. David agrees and he suggest they have dinner at a restaurant afterwards. 

The legal injunctions protecting Ella, Charlie & Vicky are ready to be published and Julia & David feel stronger than ever together, ready to face the shit storm from the media. 

Julia is in the waiting room of the BBC Studio with David & her PPO and there is no “coffee incident” this time. Julia feels very confident & simply re-read quickly her notes on her program for the Country. David is a bit nervous but also impatient to let the world know they are in a relationship. 

“Hello everyone, today I am very pleased to welcome our former Home Secretary and PM Candidate, Julia Montague”  
“Hello Andrew. Please, we know each other for 8 years now, I think you can call me Julia”  
Andrew, visibly surprised, nods. 

“Julia, if you are elected, what are your plans for the Internal Security? Are you going to follow the footsteps of James Cameron in his time and reduce the national police budget and reduce its staff?”  
“No, I won’t do that. As I said last time, we are a target. We can’t be complacent and we need all the resources available to defend our country from the attackers. I also want the police & the security services to work more & better together, in full transparency and I want better exchange of information between all services. I plan to invest 100 billion pounds in infrastructure and technology and pledges to carry out the most important review of the defense and security policy of the kingdom and its place in the world since the end of the Cold War, a review that will involve the military, counterterrorism services and intelligence services.”

“What do you plan for the UK economy? The unemployment rate is stable, but still high”  
We need to continue to reduce the UK deficit with limited public spending: reduced taxation, tight monetary policy & free trade positions. We also need to reduce administrative costs, I will push a further 10% cut in ministers' salaries and reduce tax for foreign companies which want to invest in the UK. 

“What is your position towards immigration?”  
“I am in favor of the current policy of limiting immigration and continue to bring the migratory balance to the level of tens of thousands of people per year. There will not be new measures. The abolition of free medical aid for illegal immigrants, restrictions on the social rights, a form of national preference for social housing, as well as the tightening of the fight against “health tourism” and illegal immigration have been proven to be successful”

“What do you plan for our NHS?“  
This is clearly one of my key priority. The NHS is committed to perpetuate funding by law, which will result in an increase in its budget of the order of 33.9 billion pounds per year by 2023-24. The public health service, dear to the hearts of the British, has had a series of deficits for several years. 

“There is also a big challenge ahead on the Green. What do you plan to do there?”  
“EDF has built two new generation nuclear power plants. We have a carbon plan aimed at reducing CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050. We will need to implement further measures like increase congestion charge for cars older than 10 years. We also need to continue to raise the awareness of the people about the ecology but also pushing them to continue to do small gestures as the addition of small efforts represents a massive improvement for our planet”.

“Now, I would like to move to more personal question, to allow the public to get to know who Julia is outside work. What do you like to do during your free time?”  
“Well, I don’t have a lot of free time but I really enjoy reading a good book with a glass of white wine, I practice horse riding since I am 6 years old and I enjoy open-water swimming. I am also a big football fan”  
“Are you? And which team are you supporting?”  
“Well, The Three Lions of course! But I am also a massive Chelsea FC fan. It seems my life is full of blue actually” 

“Julia, if you are elected as the new UK new Prime Minister, will there be someone moving with you in 10 Downing Street?”  
“Yes, my partner will move in with me”  
“That’s fresh news. It seems that the rumors are not always false then”. Julia laughs.

‘And who is he?”  
“My partner is David Budd, the man who saved my life several times and who managed to have Luke Aitkens, Lorraine Craddock & Nadia Ali convicted and their networks dismantled. He also prevented the 1st October Rail Attack”

“If I remember well, David Budd is married with 2 kids?”  
“David has been separated from his wife for 2 years when we started our relationship and their divorce is getting finalized as we speak. I have a very good relationship with his future ex-wife and his kids have welcomed me into their life with open arms”

“Do you plan to get married again, to satisfy the expectations of your most conservative electors, when his divorce will be finalized?”  
“We have not discussed this, this is not a priority in our lives at the moment. More than 10% of the people in the UK live together without being married. But we are not ruling out the possibility. It is still early days in our relationship even if things are moving fast, partly due to the traumatic events we have faced together, over the last 3 months”.

“And would you change your name, in case you get married?”  
“I would be very proud to add my husband's name juxtaposed to mine”

“And if you are elected, do you plan to follow the footsteps of Jacinda Ardern and have a baby whilst being the Prime Minister?”.  
“I don’t know, I can’t predict the future. David & I are currently enjoying our time together & time with his kids”  
“But, you are obviously not ruling this possibility out neither, as you did not answer a straightforward NO to my question”. There is a small pause again. Julia decides to go with the honest answer, as she promised herself to snatch the key to N°10 without political games, lies, hiding secrets or with blackmail, she wants to win a fair fight and be honest with people.  
“Indeed, David & I are not ruling out this possibility. But this is a really private matter & decision. I will only add that, if this happens, as it was the case for Jacinda, I am convinced that motherhood & being the Prime Minister can co-exist in a refreshing way. From what I have seen with my friends & my PM colleagues over the years, it’s a matter of being well organized & committed to both roles”

“David is Scottish I think”  
“Indeed”  
“Is he in favor of Scotland Independence?”  
“Honestly, I really don’t know. We have never discussed this topic together”  
“And is he going to vote for you?”  
“David has always voted for the Labor party. We haven’t discussed this, but I honestly don’t think he is going to vote for me, which is absolutely fine. I totally respect his choices and he respects mines. I also know he is supporting me in my bid for the highest position in this country and he shows me his support every day”  
“If you are elected, will he stop working as a lot of PM partners have done in the past?”  
“David is currently under-going the Detective Inspector Training and I don’t see why he would have to stop doing a job he’s enjoying and very good at. There might be some additional security measures to put in place for him and his kids, if I am elected, but not more than that” 

“David is an army veteran, if I am not wrong”  
“He is indeed, he has spent 10 years in the army after being honorably discharged. He has served both in Iraq & Afghanistan”  
“Does his experience from the war and potentially his position towards sending more troops in the Middle-East has an impact on your position on that matter”  
Julia is thinking deeply, her mind in over-drive. Then again, she decided to go for honesty.  
“David has witnessed the war first-hand and has to live with some consequences for the rest of his life, so, yes, I do think my position towards sending additional troops in the Middle-East has evolved. I strongly believe that we still need to continue to fight the enemies of democracy wherever they are: in the UK or in the Iraq or Afghanistan. I think we also need to continue to support the populations in these countries with more tailor-made and focused attacks, engaging less soldiers. We also can benefit from the latest technologies (e.g. drones & 5G) to be successful with less casualties”

“Julia, if you are elected, you will be the youngest Prime Minister ever elected as you are 41 and James Cameron was 43 when he was elected”. Julia nods. 

“Do you think your young age could be a barrier for some electors?”  
“Maybe, but if it is the case, I would like to remind them that despite my age, I have lots of years of experience with strong results as MP & Home Secretary. Passion for the Country. Hard Work. Focus. Actions. Dedication. Age is not part of the pre-requisite for the job”

“You would also be the 2nd woman ever elected in that position after Margaret Thatcher”  
“We have more and more women into politics which is great. However, today if we look at the international ranking, the UK are 39th with 32% of women in the Chamber. France is 17th with 40% of women in the Chamber & Sweden is 5th with 47%. The 1st country in that ranking being Rwanda with 61%. If I am elected, my government will respect the parity and I strongly encourage women to enter into politics”

“Talking about your government, if you are elected, do you plan to keep Mike Travis as Home Secretary?”  
“I did not have a chance to discuss this with him, but Mike is doing a very good job in that role and he is a dedicated public servant”  
“And would you keep your ex-husband, Roger Penhaligon, as the Chief Whip?”  
“Roger Penhaligon resigned from this position weeks ago and I did not have a chance to meet the new appointed Chief Whip in person. I will not comment further on that”

“Coming back to Margaret Thatcher. Some people compare you a lot to her”  
“I must admit I am flattered and I hope to have the same longevity in that position. However, I am not always aligned with her political ideas neither with some of our methods”  
“You are often nicknamed as “Ice Queen”, what do you think about it?”  
“It doesn’t bother me. In life, in politics, at work, you can’t please everybody and you can’t force people to like you. I am headstrong, very demanding towards myself & towards my staff, I can’t bear incompetence and I can be brutal sometimes, I acknowledge that. I am also passionate about this country and about the people. I want to make a difference in the life of the people and I think my constituents see that I am making the right decisions as they have re-elected me over the years. Thinking about it, I am more a volcano than an iceberg so “Fiery Queen” would be more appropriate”. They both laugh. 

“Why do you think you are ready for being PM?”  
“There is no school and no diploma to show a candidate is ready to become the next PM and I am not a Hogwarts graduated neither”. Andrew laughs.  
“I have never thought you would be a Harry Potter fan” he exclaimed  
“I am but coming back to your question: I have been Home Secretary for 6 successful years and I have been MP for 10 years. Based on my assessment of these 10 years in politics, I am confident to say I have succeeded to reach my objectives and I want to continue to help more people by leading the Country. I have also got the confidence of my party and of thousands of people who voted for me during the last general election. I am undaunted in my determination to lead our beautiful country with the best of my capacities and be fully committed to the role, as I have always been in all my previous roles”

« Finally, if you are not elected, what will you do since you have resigned from your position as Home Secretary? »  
”I will find another way to serve my country & my constituents. I went into politics to help people, that goal will never change and as Winston Churchill said: « Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts »“ 

“Thank you very much Julia and good luck!”  
“Thank you very much Andrew”

David is waiting for her behind the scenes, he congratulates her warmly, kisses her softly and hugs her proudly. This doesn’t get unnoticed by the cameras which are still running but they don’t care and they leave the studio hand in hand, facing all the paparazzi waiting outside. David is where he is supposed to be: right beside Julia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: All I want for Xmas
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	10. All I want for Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas Holidays time

One evening, they sit on the couch, Julia lying on David, their legs entangled, her head on his chest and they cuddle and kiss softly. David finally brings the topic on the table.  
“Julia, we need to talk”  
Julia looks at him worryingly. “About what, David?”  
“What do we do for Christmas?”  
“Do you have the children?”  
“Yes, I have the children the first week of the holidays, so that includes Christmas”  
“Great!”  
“Great?”  
“Yes, I am happy, I love your children and I am very happy to spend our first Christmas together with them as well”  
David is so happy, he takes Julia in his arms and holds her tight.  
“I would love to go to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland with them”  
“Sure, they will love that”  
“I love to go there”  
“You never stops to surprise me, you know that”  
“And I would love to go to “The Making of Harry Potter - Studio Tour London” with them too. I have always wanted to go there, but never had the opportunity. Have you been there already with them?”  
“No, despite them asking several times. I had little time off, the same for Vicky and we didn’t make it a priority”.  
“I am glad. Do you want to invite your parents over for Christmas?”  
“My parents, your mother, Ella & Charlie and us then?”  
“Yes, you can also invite your sister, her husband & your niece, if you want to”  
“Are you serious, Julia?”  
“David, they are your family, this is completely normal to invite them for Christmas. My mum, Ella & Charlie can stay here and your parents, your sister & her family can stay at your flat, your rent is running until the end of December anyway. Vicky & Andrew could even join us on Christmas day afternoon for tea”  
“Julia, I don’t know what to say.. thank you so much”  
“David, we are a couple now. This is what couples do, no? And I would be very pleased to meet your parents, your sister & her family”.  
“OK, then. I will call mum and Lauren tonight to invite them”  
“Great, and I will call my mum”  
“I love you”  
“I love you too”

On Thursday, 20th December, they buy the Xmas tree together after David’s work. Julia wanted to wait the last minute, to make sure the tree was still fresh on Christmas Day.  
“What do you think about this one?”  
“Definitely too small”  
“This one?”  
“Too thin”  
“This one?”  
“No”  
“David, this is serious business you know. Choosing the RIGHT Christmas Tree is taking some time”  
“Mmm what about, you choose it then?”  
“No, we choose it together. That’s the point, Darling”  
“Darling?”  
“You don’t like it?”  
“Mmmm I do actually. It’s the first time you say that”  
“What do you think about this one, David?”  
“No, I don’t like the bottom part, not enough branches”  
“You are right”  
“This one?”  
“Yes, this is THE ONE”  
“OK, I will pay and ask for them to deliver it tomorrow”  
“Why don’t we just take it now?”  
“I don’t think it will fit in the Black BMW Sedan, David. And I don’t want to have needles everywhere in the car. I want to decorate it with the kids anyway. Not tonight”  
“OK, you are right”

On Friday 21st December, David & Julia pick up the kids together after school and they go to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland. Matthew, Tom & Alice (who replaced Kim) are protecting them. Matthew & Tom concentrate on Julia and David & Alice more on Ella & Charlie. They start with the ice sculpting workshops, the magical Ice Kingdom & the Giant wheel. They love the massive Christmas tree and the UK's largest outdoor ice rink, surrounding the Victorian Bandstand. Julia can’t be on the ice with them but she definitely enjoys watching them, filming & taking pictures as David, Ella & Charlie are enjoying themselves.  
Charlie asks to meet Santa Claus and his elves, they take a carousel ride at the funfair and explore the traditional wooden chalets at the Christmas market, which are overflowing with festive food, unique and handcrafted gifts, jewelry and decorations.  
The kids drink Hot Chocolate, David & Julia drink Mulled Wine and they all eat candyfloss & churros. They really have a good time and even if some people recognize Julia, they don’t bother her and let her enjoy that festive evening.

On Saturday 22nd December morning, they decorate the Christmas tree together with Ella & Charlie. David starts with the lights circuits, Julia put the garlands with Ella and then they all hang the Christmas decoration. Julia has to refrain from telling them where to place the decorations. David notices it but doesn’t say anything but looks at her with a smirk and she smiles. David’s parents arrive in the afternoon with his sister Lauren, her husband Alistair & their daughter Eilidh. They knock on the door and Julia is really nervous. She wants David’s family to like her. David stand by her and smiles at her reassuringly. She takes a deep breath & opens the door.  
“Hello Mrs & Mr Budd. Welcome”  
“Hello Miss Montague, nice to meet you”  
“Likewise, and please, do call me Julia”. They shake hands warmly and then David’s mum embraces her and hugs her. ‘Please, call me Caroll”. “And I am Richard”.  
David speaks “Hello mum & dad. How are you?”. They hug tightly.  
Ella & Charlie rush to them and hug them. “Seanmhair & Seanair, we are so happy you are here with us, dad & Julia”  
Eilidh jumps straight in David’s arms, ignoring Julia completely. Lauren enters next with Alistair. “Hello Miss Montague, nice to meet you”.  
“Likewise, and please, do call me Julia”. They kiss on the cheek.  
David hugs Eilidh tightly and tell her: “Hello Princess. You didn’t say hello to Julia”  
“Is she your girlfriend?”  
“Yes, she is”  
“She is beautiful. She looks like a Queen”. David laughs but says “Yes, she does, I fully agree”. They all laugh.  
David’s mum has prepared a lot of shortbread for everybody and they eat it with some tea. They chat happily and even if they purposely avoid the politics topic, they discuss all together about various topics and the afternoon passes quickly.  
Caroll & Richard are very happy to see David so happy again, to see Ella & Charlie happy & so close to Julia. They play Trivial Pursuit all together and Julia wins (of course!), they bake & decorate gingerbread men.  
In the evening, they watch a typical Christmas movie (“A Christmas Prince”) with some Indian food Julia ordered from her favorite restaurant. They drink hot chocolate and eat marshmallows & some gingerbread men. 

On the 23rd December, they all have a lazy morning. Ella & Charlie play together with Eilidh and Caroll & Richard.  
Julia’s mother arrives just in time for lunch.  
She hugs Julia tightly and David as well. Caroll & Richard are very moved to see Julia’s mother being so kind & loving with their son.  
Julia introduces her mum to David’s family and to Ella & Charlie.  
Everything is going smoothly. Julia’s mum has made lots of Christmas Pudding & Christmas cake. They all definitely are going to gain weight over these holidays. 

In the afternoon, they all attend one of the Christmas Panto. They opted for Rumpelstiltskin – a Grimm brothers’ story about this creepy impish gremlin- at Southbank Centre with cabaret legend Paul Capsis who steps into the winklepickers for this one. Julia has not attended a Panto for ages and she really enjoys herself. David’s family are very impressed to see how simple, humble & funny Julia is. 

Early evening, they all go to Kew Gardens for “Christmas at Kew”. For the Christmas holidays, the botanical and royal gardens of Kew which are home to more than 30,000 species of plants from all over the world shine with its most beautiful Christmas lights. It’s really magical. They start with “the lighting Kew after dark”, a winter path on a large part of the Kew gardens entirely devoted to Christmas lights and decorations. Then they drink Mulled Wine & Hot Chocolate at the Christmas Market and they simply grab a bite as well. The kids are very happy to listen to “the tales of Santa Claus” and then they watch “the Sounds and Lights show” before heading home totally spent. 

On the 24th December morning, David & Julia are picking up the stuffed turkey for Christmas Day. David’s mum & Julia’s mum are doing some last minute food shopping together as well.  
“Julia, David, stop!”  
“What is it Ella?  
“You are under the mistletoe. This is the tradition, you have to kiss”  
Julia and David laugh, then they lean slowly, watching each other intensely and they kiss romantically in front of everybody for the first time.  
They all spend the day cooking and baking all together.  
David suddenly hears Julia screaming excitingly: “Ella, Charlie, Eilidh, it’s snowing!’  
David smirks: “Yeah, it’s normal, love. It’s December”  
“David, don’t be grim! It’s snowing, it’s wonderful, we are going to have a white Christmas!”  
Later in the afternoon, Julia, David, Ella, Charlie, Eilidh, Lauren & Alistair go to the park to build a snowman.  
“Bching”  
“David! You are going to regret that! Ella, Charlie, Eilidh, all together on David! Snowballs battle!”  
Eilidh says: “that’s not fair! I am on Uncle David’s side! Mum, Dad, come with us as well”  
“Thank you Princess”  
After a long battle, a nice snowman, they all come back in and have hot chocolate in front of the fireplace to warm up.  
They have a light dinner and they go all together to the Midnight Mass at Julia’s local church. The press is there, waiting for them. David & Julia pose briefly for the photographers before entering the Church.  
After the mass, they go to bed and they leave some beer and cookies on the table for Santa Claus and, of course, a carrot for his reindeer.

On Christmas day, around 7 a.m. they are brutally woken up by 2 over-excited children!  
‘Dad, Julia, wake up, wake up. It’s Christmas Day!”  
Julia and David wake up slowly, yawn and then laugh at the sight of Ella & Charlie jumping on the bed and crashing on David to tickle him!  
Then they move onto tickling Julia and they all laugh so loudly that they wake up Julia’s mother.  
They have breakfast together before David’s parents, Eilidh, Lauren & Alistair join them to open the presents! 

Christmas stockings are filled with snow globes of Westminster (Julia’s idea), Candy, Granola bars, hair accessories, makeup, travel-sized toiletries, coloring books, stickers, travel games, playing cards, card games, pencils, pens, cute notebooks, Star Wars bandaids and travel lint roller.  
Ella, Charlie & Eilidh are so excited, they rip off the wrap paper & discover their gifts (Legos, books, LOL dolls, Princess Costumes, 3 Darth Vader costumes (because they all love Darth Vader), Barbies, Playmobil & Lego Friends. 

There is one last box for Ella & Charlie. They open it and find another box inside, then another box,… in the last rectangular box, they find an envelope with 4 planes tickets for early July to Los Angeles for them, Julia & David and 4 entrances to Disneyland California with a special mention of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge which will open May 31st. This new “Star Wars”-inspired land is designed to resemble a remote settlement named Black Spire Outpost on the planet Batuu, one filled with the type of riffraff our intergalactic heroes would come upon — space outlaws, smugglers and rebels battling, or hiding from, the evil Empire. The Millennium Falcon ride puts parkgoers inside the spacecraft made famous by Han Solo working as a pilot, engineer or gunner. They are ecstatic and they run in David’s & Julia’s arms with tears of joy in their eyes.

David’s gift to Julia is a very thin gold necklace with a heart shaped diamond yellow gold bezel set in the center with a plain white card with a handwritten note: “Diamonds are forever, like my love for you”. Julia becomes very emotional and kisses him lovingly, caressing his right cheek with her left hand.

Julia’s gift for David are customized white gold rectangular parallelepiped shaped cufflinks with “our” engraved on the left one and “choice” engraved on the right one. It’s David’s turn to become emotional. He kisses her lovingly and murmurs in her left hear: “Our choice. Always. Forever”

David’s parents love their presents as well and then Lauren & Alistair give them a box saying it’s a present from both of them to both of them. They are all intrigued and they open the box to reveal tiny baby shoes with #2 embroided on it. They scream & cry from joy. Eilidh is going to be a big sister in June!  
David’s mum discretely whispers to her: “Next year, it might be your turn, love” and she squeezes her hands kindly. Julia smiles and replies back: “maybe, never underestimate the power of love”

They have Christmas dinner, the table is nicely decorated with a gold & red theme and lots of Christmas Crackers and candles.  
The menu begins with a carrot and coriander soup, smoked salmon as the main starter. The main course is a roasted stuffed turkey accompanied by potatoes, parsnips, bacon rolls and chipolatas, Brussels sprouts, Yorkshire puddings (Julia’s favorites) & peas. All served with a cranberry jelly.  
They watch the annual Queen Christmas Broadcast all together at 3pm.  
Then they have the desserts: the traditional Bannock (oatmeal cake), Christmas cake with candied fruit & frosting and Christmas Pudding with brandy butter.  
They open the Christmas Crackers and they all laugh when they put the hats on.

Vicky & Andrew comes by for a late afternoon tea and cakes. They love their presents as well and the kids got even more Legos, Playmobils & books.  
Vicky is particularly touched by the gift she receives from Julia: a voucher for the Sanctuary SPA for a whole afternoon of pampering.  
That’s the moment Ella & Charlie offer Julia, David, Vicky & Andrew their present: DIY decorated “souvenir boxes” to put souvenirs from their time spent together.. they open the box and find pictures taken with Ella, Charlie and each of their parents & stepparents. Julia is amazed to see a picture of the 3 of them taken at Winter Wonderland. She realizes Ella & Charlie had Julia’s PPO’s in the confidence. 

On Boxing Day, they all have a very lazy morning, they share a last lunch all together and then everybody leaves except Ella & Charlie.  
Julia is picking her dress for the New Year’s eve gala with Ella. They go to Selfridges in the special shopping area with personal shoppers. She is trying on an off-shoulder night blue velvet gown floor length with a slit mid-thigh on her left leg & totally hiding her right leg with silver flats (it was too early to be able to wear Louboutins with her prosthesis) & a silver clutch bag.  
Ella is very impressed. “Waouw Julia, you look amazing. Dad is going to love it!”.  
“Thank you Ella”  
“I hope so” she adds with a grin  
Julia also buys Ella’s very first sequins dress ever for her New Year’s Eve with Vicky’s family in Edinburgh. 

David on his side is going to Mos Bros and choses a black tuxedo, a crisp white shirt & black bow tie. He is also renting a mini tuxedo for Charlie, matching his own, for New Year’s Eve in Edinburgh as well.

In the evening, they watch a “The Jungle Book” with popcorns, all cuddled up in the sofa with fluffy warm plaids on top of them.

On Thursday 27th December, they surprise Ella & Charlie by going to The Making of Harry Potter - Studio Tour London.  
It’s a total surprise and they all love their day there, between the Great Hall and Diagon Alley, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, the memory cabinet, all the costumes, the chamber of secrets door, the green screen experience where they fly a broomstick over London just like the cast did during filming, the creature effects and “The Backlot Café” where they all have the opportunity to enjoy a frothy Butterbeer.They are all also very impressed by the Hogwarts Castle Model.  
They come back late afternoon and David helps them pack their luggage as Vicky is picking them up the next day.  
They spend their last evening together eating Mac Donalds in the den, watching “The Incredibles”. 

On Friday 28th December, after Vicky has picked up the kids, Julia is cuddled in David’s arms.  
“David, this was my best Christmas ever. I have got a belate Christmas gift for you that I couldn’t give you in front of your family”.  
David opens the simple plain squared box and he is totally gobsmacked.  
This is a box of condoms. 

He looks at her worryingly.  
“What is that for? Julia, don’t you trust me? I swear on my kids life that I have never been unfaithful to you. I love you and I am loyal to you, always”  
Julia smiles kindly. “I trust you David, completely. This is not about that. I”.. she pauses, struggling to find the words suddenly and he can see she is very emotional.  
“I would like to stop to take my contraception pill to allow my body to recover his natural rhythm and hormons levels & cycles for several months, in order to prepare my body to hopefully get pregnant in a few months – after the election”

David is literally speechless and looks at her so intensely that she starts to blush under his gaze.  
“David, what do you think? Do you think it’s too early? I thought you wanted it, you mentioned it several times and even if I am not 100% ready yet, I start to see myself as a mother, because you and your kids are bringing out the more maternal side of me”  
“Julia, I am totally over the moon and I think this makes sense completely to first allow your body to recover from years of birth control. I am so happy”  
“We better start practicing straight away then”. And they make love very slowly that night, spending a lot of time caressing and cherishing their other half’s body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: New Year
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	11. New Year

Julia has a PM campaign meeting in Edinburgh on Saturday 29th December.  
David is coming with her and he decides to surprise her. After the meeting they do a bit of sightseeing, visit the Castle & have pancakes at the Beach House Café. 

Then they go to Elderslie by car which is only about a bit more than one hour drive. Before spending their night at David’s parents’house, David invites Julia to the Butchers Steak & Grill. The owner is a schoolfriend from David and he has arranged a table for them in a corner with 2 small tables around for her PPOs. They have a nice & romantic walk in the city center. David is very happy to makes her discover his home town & family house. They spend the night in David’s teenager room which is quite a turn-on for them. They make love in his old bed but Julia has to make lots of efforts not to be as vocal as usual as David’s parents room is adjoining David’s room.

On the Sunday, they start their day with a full Scottish breakfast with Tattie Scone, Lorne Sausage, White Pudding, fried eggs, rashers of bacon, sauteed mushrooms, tomato topped with cheese prepared by David’s mum. They drive to Loch Lomond as Julia has never been there either. They are very lucky with the weather, it’s crisp cold but very sunny. The views are breathtaking and Julia is really amazed. She tells David that she wants to come back in the Summer which makes him very happy. 

On Monday 31st December, they have a lie-in as they came back very late from Scotland. They brunch and take a bath together. Having a nice & relaxing bubble bath is a habit Julia is passing onto David, which was more a pragmatic shower guy before, especially as most of the time, baths together end up with sex in it or on the bathroom tiles or in the shower.. this time they make it to the bed and they take their time to explore every inch of their damped bodies.. they have a nap in the arms of each other and then Julia hairdresser & make-up artist are coming to help her to get ready for the New Year’s ball. 

David is ready and waiting for her in the den, browsing the news on his phone when she enters in the room.  
He looks at her and his eyes widened and his jaws drop, totally speechless and aroused by the view of her in her night blue evening gown.  
“Waouw Julia, you look absolutely stunning, love. All eyes will be on you tonight”  
Julia smiles widely. “You don’t look too bad yourself, darling” she teases.  
“And don’t worry, all eyes will be on US, as this is our first official appearance as a couple at an official event. The majority of the members of the party are going to be there”  
“No pressure” teases David.  
“I love you David and I am very proud of you, of your heroic actions and that you are my partner tonight”

They arrive at the Ball and just before getting out of the car, Julia squeezes David’s hand, kisses him softly on the lips and murmurs in his hear: “Remember, David. Our. Choice” and give him one last loving look before letting him get him out of the car.  
David walks around the car, opens it and takes Julia’s hand to help her get out of the car.  
Lots of photographers want to take the perfect picture of the couple’s first official appearance and despite Julia’s protection team and David’s experience, they are struggling to make it to the main entrance. David can’t act as her PPO tonight but the urge to protect her is too big and he manages something a bit in between and he will certainly look like a very gallant and protective partner on the pictures.

When they enter the main ballroom, Julia murmurs kindly in David’s hear “Darling, you are my partner, my lover, my +1 and not my PPO anymore. Please, walk by my side, not 3 steps behind me”.  
David nods and adjust his position immediately in a very subtle way. 

Julia introduces him patiently to a lot of her colleagues and David’s Charming Self is unanimous among people.  
Suddenly Roger is coming in their direction with a Blonde looking barely twenty.  
“Hello Julia. Plod”  
“David’s a decorated army’s veteran who was granted the Victoria’s cross for his heroic actions throughout his 10 years of service, especially in Helmand. He saved 300 people on a train on the 1st October Rail Attack, he saved my life twice and he managed to get Lorraine Craddock, Luke Aitkens & Nadia Ali arrested and their network dismantled. He is currently undertaking the Detective training and so far has passed all the intermediate exams with flying honors, so he is a far crime from what you called him twice and deserves your respect. Now, if you excuse us Roger, there are other guests I really truly would like to see tonight”  
“Come on Julia, life is not a fairytale. He is with you for only one reason: your money. Be realistic”  
It’s David’s turn to speak. “Well actually, you are right Mr Penhaligon. I am with Julia for only one reason: amazing sex. Now if you excuse us, I really would like to go home early tonight for that very single reason, and we really need to talk to other people before we can leave. Have a good evening Mr Penhaligon. Miss”  
They leave and David’s broad palm on Julia’s back is suddenly lower than it was before. Julia looks at him lovingly and David kisses her softly on the lips. 

“Miss Montague, would you give me this dance?”  
“With pleasure Sergeant Budd”  
”They turn on the dance floor to the sound of a Strauss waltz” David flawlessly leading them.  
“I did not know you could do that kind of dancing David”  
David smirks: “I am a man of many talents, Julia”  
“Oh I know that already. For sure. Seriously, where did you learn to dance like that?”  
“You won’t believe me if I tell you I learned it as part of my army training, right?” he smirks.  
She laughed.  
“OK, truth to be told. Vicky’s mother taught me, before our wedding as it was a long lasting dream of Vicky to open the ball of her wedding with a waltz”  
“And can you do other dances?”  
“I love slow songs, obviously. I can’t wait to dance one with you”  
“I can do modern dancing and also some salsa moves”  
“Salsa moves, mmm”  
Just when she finishes her phrase, the orchestra starts to play a slow song.  
David puts his hands on her waist and pulls her against him. She puts her 2 hands around his neck and they dance very sensually while looking eye to eye.

Then they go to the bar. Julia orders some champagne and David some beer. They cherish, nurture & assume their differences.  
Julia continues her tour and speaks with other party members whilst David is looking at her intensely from the bar. 

It’s time for the countdown at midnight and David is by her side in 4 long strides. He takes her in his arms and hugs her tightly.  
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Happy New Year!  
They kiss breathlessly in front of all the party guests, unaware of few embarrassed looks.  
“Happy New Year 2019 Julia”  
“Happy New Year 2019 David”  
“Can I bring you home now, future Prime Minister? I think it’s time for another type of celebration”  
“Yes, please. Now” 

They can’t take their hands of each other in the car on their way back and they kiss breathlessly several times.  
After her PPO’s last check of her flat, David slams her on the door and starts to remove her dress hurryingly but Julia stops him.  
He looks at her, surprised.  
“What’s wrong, love?”  
“Nothing, darling. I just would like to try something different tonight”  
“Like what?” says David looking a bit puzzled.  
“Well, you know, since we are using condoms. There are other, hum… let’s say positions we could try”  
David still doesn’t get it..  
Julia takes his hand and guides him towards the bedroom. She opens the drawer of her nightstand and recovers a small and discreet lubricant tube..  
“Have you ever tried the other hole, David?”  
David looks at her with a total dumb facial expression.  
“Wh at?” says a suddenly suttering David..  
“Are you serious, Julia?”  
“Yes, I am. I didn’t practice it since University but I used to like it, actually. I take from your reaction that you have never tried it”  
“No”  
“Would you like to try it, with me?”  
“Yes”  
“OK, do you want me to guide you as this will be your first time?”  
“Yes, I do” David replies before kissing her again.  
“You will never stop surprising me, Julia Montague”  
“I am glad”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: PM Campaign
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	12. PM Campaign

“Did you like it, David?”  
David is blushing and answers shyly: “Yes, I did”.. “a lot actually”  
“What did you like the most?”  
“Emotionally, it’s adding another level of intimacy & trust between us. Physically, it’s tighter and the sensations on my sex are different, it “envelops” me differently. I like it. It also give me access to your sex & clit in a way I don’t have when I am inside you “in the classical way”.  
“And you, Julia, why do you like it?”  
“Well, I fully agree with everything you said and I really liked it when you stimulated me simultaneously with 2 fingers inside me, rubbing my clit with your thumb & your sex filling my back entrance. It was 3 very different pleasures at the same time and it was really overwhelmingly good”  
He kisses her passionately.

“What do you want to do today, Julia?”  
“Well, the honest answer would be to stay in bed with you the whole day… but I am afraid I have to make an appearance at the New Year’s Day parade. It is planned as part of my campaign plan and to be honest I quite like it. Have you ever been?”  
“No, I never bothered but this sounds great”  
“Thank you, I really appreciate your support and I know it’s not easy to be on the public eye all the time when we leave the flat, and I really appreciate all your efforts”  
“Love, I knew what I was signing up for. Remember: Our Choice”  
“And we still have some time before having to get up, so first I want to have you for breakfast” and within a second, he is undressing her on their bed to start the New Year in style. 

After the New Year’s parade, they come back home & they have fish & chips in the den. Then they watch the news, in the arms of each other. David is caressing Julia’s legs.. slowly moving up her thighs. She kisses him deeper & deeper.  
“Julia, it’s my turn to suggest something a little bit different I would like to try with you”  
“What is it David?”  
“I would like to blindfold you. Don’t worry, I am not going to replay “50 shades of Grey” but I want to make love to you with you not knowing what I am going to do to you next”  
“hmmmm”  
“I want you to trust me at 100% and to give me the full control of our lovemaking. I know this is a massive step for you, especially as you don’t give anything away to other people, especially in your work”  
“hmmm. This is difficult indeed for me. I have never done this before”  
“Do you want to try, with me?”  
“I trust you David, 100%. With my life. But that is indeed a massive step for me. I might need a bit more convincing”  
“Like?”  
“Lots of kisses, caresses and licking”  
“Oh, that goes without saying, love. I am fully aware that you need to relax and need to be in an erotic induced state before I blindfold you, if you agree”  
“Let’s see how it goes then”

After lots of kissing, caressing, licking all over her body and 2 orgasms induced by David’s fingers & tongue, Julia is sexually satiated and in a post-orgasmic bliss. She says to David he can go ahead with the blindfold. David retrieves a tie from the wardrobe and gently blindfold her.  
“Julia, if you feel uncomfortable, I can remove it straight away, just say the safe word “Choice”.  
“OK, David. Thank you. I trust you”. Julia exhales slowly. He can tell it’s a huge effort for her and he appreciates it even more.  
He puts back the duvet on top of her and he murmurs: “Stay warm under the duvet, I will be right back”

Julia can hear some noises coming from the kitchen but nothing clearly enough to guess what David is doing.  
He is back in the room, she can feel and scent him but he doesn’t say anything and doesn’t touch her.  
David removes gently the duvet and she shivers as she feels something really cold in the middle of her breast. Then the cold object is moving down, back up again, down: an ice cube. David is drawing patterns all over her body with the ice cube, whilst his other hand is caressing her and his tongue licking her where he knows she likes. Julia really enjoys it. He is kissing her feet, legs, moving up her thighs slowly where she needs him the most, then he kisses her there with an ice cube in his mouth. She squirms under his touch as he keeps kissing her sex, then slowly licking her folds with his ice cold tongue, she is slowly reaching her breaking point and suddenly David stops, removes the blindfold and enters her in one swift move. She shrieks by surprise then she pulls him towards her and kisses him breathlessly. They quickly reach their peak at the same time, screaming the other’s name. 

They stay entwined in each other’s arms for some time, under the duvet, coming down from their high, kissing softly every now and then.  
“David, that was amazing”  
“It was indeed. How did it feel to handover the power, love?”  
“I was a bit scary at the beginning I must say but then I relaxed when you gently keep me under the duvet whilst you were busying yourself in the kitchen. I felt warm, protected & pampered. Very much loved. I liked handing over the power completely, it was relaxing actually. But I am not ready to do this outside our bedroom!”  
“Fair enough, love”. They both laugh before drifting into a peaceful sleep.

Julia has got a lot of interviews that week, so she is working a lot to prepare them. She also prepares herself for the big final debate scheduled for Saturday 5th January evening. She will then go on a city campaign trail for 2 weeks. It will be the first time they will spend such a long time apart as David can’t come with her because of some anticipated Detective Training exams. 

They still manage to organize some “date nights” as they know it will be manic for several months, if Julia is elected.  
They go to the movie theatre to watch “On the Basis of Sex” an American biographical legal drama film based on the life and early cases of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who became the second woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Julia loves it and even if David was not convinced beforehand, he got into it. He is a strong defender of women’s rights & equality, especially in the army & police forces.  
They also attend the English National Ballet's Swan Lake opening on 3 January 2019 at the London Coliseum. Julia is wearing a night blue lace dress, hugging her curves at the right places and David can’t take his eyes out of her. 

Before going on the city campaign trail, Julia asks David to rehearse again the basic self-defense moves he started to teach her during her rehabilitation. It was really a struggle for her with her prosthesis at the beginning, but she was very persistent and she appreciated the self-confidence boost it was giving her. She is getting better & better at it and she learned to compensate her prosthesis with her good leg, especially to improve her balance and avoid any potential assaulter to take advantage of it.  
David has also taught her to shoot and she is really good at it. She likes the focus required, the adrenaline rush and the temporary extra power she feels with a gun in her hands. She is also very happy to share that passion with David and they go to the shooting range once a week together.  
It helps her to feel safe when David’s not there, despite her new security team having been picked-up by David, he is the only one she trusts.

They arrive at the BBC studios around 7pm, 1 hour ahead of the debate which is starting at 8pm. Julia receives several “good luck” texts, including from David’s parents which really touched her as she knows they are liberal but the fact they support their son’s girlfriend, no matter what, makes her a bit emotional. 

The BBC TV debate is moderated by Laura Kuenssberg.  
The other candidates are: Roger Penhaligon, James Gardner & Harry Kirk, Jeremy Highway & Jon Applegate. She is the only woman amongst the 6 candidates.  
The first ballot of Members of Parliament (MPs) will take place on the 14th January, with exhaustive ballots of MPs also taking place on 16th, 17th and 18th January, reducing the candidates to two. The general membership of the party will elect the leader by postal ballot with the result being announced on the 25th January. 

People in the public are allowed to ask questions and each candidate has a 60 min speaking time allocation.  
Things are doing well, the debate is very civilized, each candidate allowing the others to express their views and even if some points of view are totally opposite and create some heated discussions, but there is a lot of respect in the debate and Laura is doing a great job. 

Then suddenly, there is a massive “bang” noise similar to an explosion. Julia freezes instantaneously. The rambling noise of the voices of the other people wakes her up and she instinctively looks at David who looks at her very calmly, raises his hands & puts them on his chest and slowly breaths in and out.. Julia does the same and manages to calm down quickly and avoid the panic attack which was potentially going to happen.  
She then realizes Roger is looking at her with a broad smile and snaky eyes. She knows immediately what happened: he tried to trigger her PTSD with the explosion noise.  
Laura is reassuring everybody, it was a balloon which exploded in one of the boxes.  
Julia drinks some water and refocus. 

But Roger unhappy that his plan failed, loses his nerves and attacks her directly: “Julia, you look pale. Maybe that noise triggered your PTSD and it shows clearly that you are unfit to run the country”  
“Unfit? Why? Because I am a disabled woman who survived a sniper attack and a bombing? I did what was needed to heal Roger, I walk with a prosthesis without any problem, I live a normal life and I have done intense psychotherapy (and I am still doing it) to deal with the side effects of the attempts on my life, a long period in the coma, the survivor’s guilt and my amputation. I feel stronger than ever. I am also a woman in love which provides me another level of balance in my life, not like when I was married to you”. Everybody laugh..  
Roger is fuming and says with great disdain: “well, let the electors decide if they are ready to give the power to run this country to a disabled, traumatised and psychologically sick woman”. The crowd boos him.  
“You are right Roger, let them decide. I am sure my very good results as Home Secretary will be more important to people than the fact I am missing a part of my right leg, that I am seeing a therapist once a week and that I am a woman” 

The debate continues and Julia is making good point after good point. She is clearly the winner of the night. All media recognize it.  
There are also some articles explaining that Roger is the one who tried to trigger Julia as the balloon that exploded was in his box. What was a balloon doing in Roger’s box at the first place? He said it was a gift from his niece. Honestly, she is 25 years old. That defense line is a bit weak. Laura has tipped some journalists with facts and Rob has filmed a conversation with him in which he admits it and regrets it did not work. Rob leaks it in the press as he felt so guilty to have participated in the conspiracy with Mike & Roger to discredit Julia during her speech at St Matthews. He wants to try to be forgiven. All that fuss totally discredits Roger.  
Julia is back in her box and David is at her side as quickly as possible. He hugs her tightly. “Well done, love. You recovered very well”  
“Thank YOU David. You really helped me when you put your hands on your chest and breathed. I followed your breaths and it calmed me down”.  
“Let’s go home now, future Prime Minister”

It is their last night together as Julia is leaving late afternoon for her city campaign trail. They make love several times and finally fall asleep, naked, satiated and in the arms of each other.  
They have a studious Sunday as David prepares his Monday exam and Julia finalizes some speeches.  
“Bye, Love. Call me when you get there, please. I love you. I am missing you already”  
“Bye, Darling. I love you too and I will miss you lots”  
They kiss passionately several times and Julia has to literally extract herself from David’s arms. Their eyes locked one last time, Julia gazing at him lovingly before disappearing down the stairs.

The first week is passing as a whirlwind as they are both very busy – David with his mid-year exams and Julia sometimes visiting 2 different cities per day. On the Sunday, they are missing each other terribly. They Facetime and then suddenly the connection is lost. Julia is trying to call him back straight away but David doesn’t answer. She then hears a knock on the door. Her PPO is talking through the door. “Miss Montague, there is a special delivery for you”  
Julia opens the door abruptly “I have not asked anything to be deli…” and she stops before finishing her sentence as David stands in front of her.  
“Surprise!!”  
“David enters the room, takes her in his arms and spins her around before kissing her breathlessly”  
“David, that’s the best surprise I have ever had. I am so happy you are here”  
“I had my last exam yesterday morning, I had the kids for the weekend and I asked Vicky to pick them up 1 hour earlier than usual so I can come here and surprise you”.  
“Can you stop talking now Future Detective Inspector Budd”  
“Yes, Ma’am”  
They make love passionately, they are clearly not used to abstaining and they missed each other a lot.

David attends her meeting on Monday and then has to come back to London to work.  
Julia will be back in town on Thursday, to get the first results of the first ballot.  
On Friday 18th January, the results of the first round are officially announced and Julia has received the highest number of votes in history.  
Roger is eliminated in the first round.

So now, there are 2 candidates left: Julia & Harry Kirk whom Julia likes but has often beaten in the past.  
However as the saying goes: “do not sell the skin of the bear until you have killed it”.  
Julia is pleased and she is pleased Harry made it to the second round, as there is a lot of respect between them and Harry is clean, fair and doesn't do dirty tricks. Honesty and transparency always win, Julia understood this by paying a high price.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Election Day
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	13. Election Day

They try to enjoy “normal moments” as much as possible as they both know that if Julia is elected, “normality” will not be possible anymore.  
On Saturday 19th January, they have a romantic evening together: they go to a nice small Indian Restaurant which was privatized for 2h for them to give them space and intimacy and they attend the last representation of “Romeo and Juliet” by the Royal Shakespeare Company, at the Barbican Theatre.  
They both preferred the version with Richard Madden & Lily James, in 2016.

The last week of the campaign passes as a blur as they are both very busy: David is doing an internship at SO15 for 3 months and Julia continues to convince people to vote for her and also meeting several potential candidates for her potential future government.

It’s finally Friday 25th January - election day- and Julia wakes up very early. She is a nervous wreck.  
“Love, come back to bed”  
“I have to wake-up, get ready and go to my campaign HQ”  
“Julia, it is 5 a.m. You don’t have to be at your HQ before 9 a.m. Come back to bed”  
“I can’t David, I can’t sleep. I am too nervous, excited & stressed”  
“Did I say I wanted you to come back to sleep?” says David grinning mischievously.

Julia laughs & David pulls her on top of him on the bed and he attacks her mouth greedily. She melts onto him instantaneously and she kisses him back passionately. After several minutes of their lip lock and their tongue exploring each other's mouth, without warning, David removes her silk night dress in one swift move, positions her on the bed on her back, gets down and starts lapping her sex practically dripping by now. It doesn’t take long for her to explode all over him but he doesn’t stop. He massages her breast and let his tongue exploring her folds and tracing a path from her clit to her anus. A second orgasm hits her quickly and she screams and screams, following the rhythm of the waves of pleasure taking over all her senses. At this point, she probably doesn’t even remember her own name. Then David hugs her tightly in his arms and starts to pepper kisses all over her body, whilst she is slowly getting down from her high.  
She finally opens her eyes again and she smiles at him. 

“Thank you David. Your turn now, let’s take care of the obvious bulge your boxer shorts do a very bad job at hiding” and within a second, she flips him on his back and straddles him. She removes his boxer short whilst David removes his T-Shirt. She sinks onto his sex and starts to rock around him slowly, then she speeds up and moves up & down in a rapidly frenetic rhythm. It’s David’s turn to lose his mind and as a third mind blowing orgasm hits her, David follows her as the feeling of her sex tightening around his cock brought him over the edge.

After 3 orgasms in a row, Julia feels much more relax and even manages to get an extra half-hour of sleep, curled up in David’s arms.  
She is getting ready and she is wearing her night blue “lucky pantsuit”, the blue silk blouse with a bow at the front that David likes so much. She is wearing the thin necklace with the heart at the center David gave her at Christmas, the earrings she received from her beloved dad for her 20 years birthday and the shoes her mum gave her for her last birthday.

Whilst she was in the shower, David prepared her a full English breakfast as he knows she might not be able to eat anything today, with all the meetings she is facing and her nerves on top.  
She thanks him warmly and they have their breakfast in silence, David knowing that her nerves are back on and that she is also trying to concentrate.  
“Thank you for this delicious breakfast Darling. You are a star. Whatever happens tonight, I am a very lucky woman”  
“And I am a very lucky man”  
After one last kiss, Julia is out of the flat, ready to face whatever destiny throws at her, knowing that David, her rock, will be supporting her, no matter what.

After what feels like a Groundhog day and Julia biting the nose of several of her aides, Frances & David manage to reach her HQ and they are all waiting for the final results to be announced, even if all the poll results are heading in one direction: a massive victory for Julia. But Julia knows from experience that the poll are not always correct, so it doesn’t help her to feel confident. 

It’s finally 18h and the results are announced.  
The party spokesman speaks: “Ladies & Gentlemen. Here are the results of the Conservative party leadership election, following the rushed departure of John Vosler: Julia Montague gets 70% of the vote and Harry Kirk gets 30%. I am very pleased to announce we have the new Prime Minister within these premises!”

Julia is overwhelmed and is struggling to hide her true feelings and keep her politician mask on. She smiles broadly at David & her mum before being pushed on stage by her partisans. She reaches the conference desk and she lowers her arms to ask for silence and starts her thank you speech.

““I am so proud to be standing here in front of you today – as the new Prime Minister of a majority Conservative government. To the people in this room, I want to say thank you. You are the greatest team I could ever dream of. You are an amazing team and you have run the most professional campaign ever”  
Applause & Cheers  
“I thank all the people who voted for me today and I am undaunted in my determination to show you that you have made the right decision”  
“I thank my mum & my beloved dad for always believing in me, supporting me and pushing me to fulfill my dreams and I thank my partner, David, for his endless support & for making me a better person every day.  
Frances & David are beaming at her, all smiles.  
“The real reason to be proud tonight, the real reason to be excited is that we will get the opportunity to serve the people of our great country and bring them real hope”  
Applause & Cheers  
“To the people across our wonderful country, I’m telling you now: we will not let you down.  
“Thank you again for all of you who made this victory possible and now we have to deliver”  
Applause & Cheers  
“Now, if you excuse me, I have to leave you continue the celebrations without me, as Her Majesty the Queen is expecting me in 30 minutes. Thank you again, to all of you.  
We did it!”  
Applause & Cheers

Julia leaves the room slowly as everybody wants to hug her, shake her hand or give her a friendly pat on the back.  
Julia finally makes her way to David and kisses him deeply on the mouth regardless of the world around them. He reciprocates the kiss immediately and everybody is cheering them. 

“Congratulations Julia, I am very proud of you. You did it! You reached the top position of the country. You are the most powerful woman of the United Kingdom”  
Julia is then hugging Frances strongly. Frances smiles at her broadly.  
“Congratulations my stronghead, brave & so intelligent daughter. Your father would be so proud of you. I am so proud of you. I love you”  
“I love you too mum”

Julia is in the car on her way to Buckingham Palace and she has never felt so proud in her life. But at the same time, she also knows that there is much more in her life now: her Flying Scotsman, Ella, Charlie, her mum of course and David’s family as well. She feels complete and fulfilled for the first time in her life. 

She smiles at herself and she takes her notepad with the draft agenda she prepared, in case of.  
The trickiest point, funnily enough, being “David”, as he is not divorced yet and they are, de facto, unmarried. She knows that the Queen is more open on the divorce topic since Charles, Andrew and Anne divorced, but still, there is a protocol to respect. Even more strongly since she is now the Prime Minister. But even if Julia wants, of course, to respect protocols, she loves David and wants him by her side. 

She talked about that with David the night before, she asked him bluntly: “David, what is your current position towards remarriage? As if I am elected tomorrow, it would be much easier from a protocol perspective if we are married”. David looks at her lovingly and replied: “marrying you is not a matter of if, but only a matter of when, love. Of course, I would like to marry you, but please, that’s all you need to know for now, don’t spoil the surprise”. And with that, Julia knew all she needed to know. 

The car stops in front of Buckingham Palace and Julia is getting out the car to meet greetings from partisans gathered outside the Palace and lots of photographers. She waves at them and walks inside.

She enters in an Audience room in the Queen’s apartments. 

“Miss Montague, congratulations for your election as the new United Kingdom’s Prime Minister”  
“Thank you Ma’am, it’s a pleasure and an honor to meet you tonight” says Julia whilst performing a curtsey and shake hands, as she greets the Queen (she has met her several times before, when she was Home Secretary, so she doesn’t have to call her “Your Majesty” and she is allowed to shake hands with her).  
“Let’s take a seat”. Julia waits the Queen is sitting in one of the sofa before sitting in the opposite sofa the Queen is pointing at her”  
“I am going to have some tea, would you like some as well?”  
“I would love to Ma’am, thank you”  
The tea is being served quickly.

“So Miss Montague, I would like to ask you formally, after your election today, if you accept to be the United Kingdom Prime Minister and to form a government”  
“Yes, I do, Ma’am”  
“Great, I am very happy this wonderful country will be led by a powerful & strong woman for the second time under my reign and I am very happy you stand here today, after surviving the 2 attempts of your life”  
“Thank you Ma’am”  
“Do you have already chosen some members of your Government?  
“I do indeed. I would like to appoint:  
-George Osborne as First Secretary of State, Chancellor of the Exchequer & Second Lord of the Treasury.  
-Mike Travis as the Home Secretary  
-Philip Hammond for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs  
\- Michael Gove as Secretary of State for Justice & Lord Chancellor  
\- Michael Fallon as Secretary of State for Defense  
I am still discussing with some people for the other roles, I should have all the ministers for our weekly audience on Wednesday”  
“These people sound all a good choice”  
“I am glad”

“However, I must say I am surprised to see Mike Travis in the list, as if I remember well, he was involved in the tentative to destabilize you during your speech at St Matthews”  
“He was indeed, I had an open-heart discussion with him on the topic and I want to give him a second chance, as Mike is a dedicated public servant and he did a very good job as my Home Secretary Deputy”  
“I see. I am proud that you are able to show compassion and forgiveness. This is difficult for most people, but for me, this is a sign of maturity and wisdom”  
“Thank you Ma’am, I must say that my partner, David Budd, has had a positive impact on me on that regard. Forgiveness in particular was not my strong suit”  
The Queen laughs.  
“Talking about your partner. This is not my business, and without crossing the line, I would be keen to know what your overall plans are”  
“David is not divorced yet, even if he has been separated from his wife for more than 2 years when we met. They were granted a quick divorce. I know that the fact we are not married, is going to add some difficulties regarding protocol but I can assure you that we plan to get married, after his divorce will be official, early March and after respecting the delay of at least six weeks and one day from the date the Decree Nisi will be granted”  
“Great, I am glad to hear that and I am very happy for you. As you know, 3 of my children divorced and 2 of them happily remarried. I wish you and David a happy remarriage”  
“Thank you Ma’am”

“What do you plan to do when you move to 10 Downing Street?”  
“I will deliver my acceptance speech tomorrow afternoon in front of 10 Downing Street, and David will stand with my mum and my staff members on the side. He will not be right beside me during my speech and we will not walk hand in hand towards the door of No 10 and pose for the photographers after my speech”.  
“This is your decision & your choice, but honestly, I wouldn’t mind (and I think most of the UK people will agree with me) if he joins you after your speech and that you walk hand in hand and pose together in front of the door. You plan to marry as soon as the law allows it, this is a serious relationship and you are actually moving in together, so I don’t see why it should be an issue”  
Julia is very happy about that and she is beaming.  
“Thank you Ma’am. I will discuss this with David tonight as he needs to be ready for another crazy level of exposure, if we do that”  
The Queen laughs again  
“Indeed”

“Well, thank you very much Julia, do you mind if I call you Julia, after all, we have met several times already and we are going to see each other at least on a weekly basis”  
“It would be an honor, Ma’am”  
“Great, well unless you wanted to talk about something else, I will let you go home and celebrate your victory”  
“Thank you Ma’am. Have a good evening”  
“Have a good evening Julia, and I will be delighted to meet your partner soon”  
“Thank you Ma’am”

Julia is leaving Buckingham Palace feeling very happy. She is heading back to Overstrand Mansions to celebrate privately with David, Ella, Charlie and her mum. They had decorated the main room with “Congratulations” balloons and Ella & Charlie have prepared some “Congratulations” cards. David had bought a bottle of champagne and Frances had cooked her favorite dessert: île flottante, an island of meringue floating in vanilla sauce.

When they all left, Julia talks with David about her discussion with the Queen and about her proposition to handle her speech and the pictures in front of 10 Downing Street.  
“OK”  
“OK?”  
“Yes, this sounds like a nice compromise and an honest statement as we are together, we will indeed get married when the law allows it and we will be moving in together. There is not point hiding it. People will see it on Monday anyway. And remember. Our. Choice. Right beside you”  
“I love you”  
“I love you too”  
They kiss very lovingly.

Then Julia goes back to her office to work on her speech and that’s where David found her at 2 o’clock in the morning.  
“Julia, it’s 2 a.m. you need to come to bed”  
“David, this is the speech of my life. I can’t disappoint the people and I want to make sure people believe they have made the right choice by choosing me to lead the country. This is not a 5 minutes job”  
“I understand love, but you also need to sleep enough to be in good form & have enough energy to deliver your speech. And also you don’t want bags under your eyes on all the pictures”  
“But..”  
David interrupts her: “Bed woman!!” to quote Denis Thatcher. It’s part of my role to make sure you have enough sleep & enough sex as well by the way”  
They both laugh.  
“Now, we are talking Sergeant Budd. Let’s celebrate properly in our bed”  
And so they do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "Thank you Speech" is largely inspired by David Cameron's speech at his Campaign HQ in 2015
> 
> Next chapter: 10 Downing street
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	14. 10 Downing Street

“Good Morning my sexy Prime Minister”  
“Good Morning my sexy future Detective Inspector”

“How are you feeling this morning?”  
“I think the enormity of what happened yesterday still did not sink in completely. I will need to take some time later today to let it sink in properly, maybe when I will be inside 10 Downing Street, in the Prime Minister office”

“I am happy for you that your mum bequeathing you your dad's desk, for your office in 10 Downing Street”  
“Yes, it’s the best gift ever I received from her”

Julia finalizes her speech whilst David is cooking one of her favorite meal: homemade tagliatelles with truffle oil & parmesan cheese. 

On her way to 10 Downing Street, Julia suddenly feels very emotional as she thinks about her dad, about how proud he would have been today. She looks at the sky and she murmurs: “I did it Dad. Thank you for pushing me to fulfill my dreams. I love you. Forever”

Julia delivers the speech of her life in front of 10 Downing Street.

“Her Majesty the Queen has asked me to form a new government and I have accepted.

Firstly, I would like to pay some tribute to the previous government who managed to steady the economy, reduce the budget deficit and improve the employment rate. 

I went into politics to help people and because I love this country. I think its best days still lie ahead and I deeply believe in public service.  
I think the service our country needs right now is to face up to our really big challenges, to confront our problems, to take difficult decisions, to lead people through those difficult decisions, so that together we can reach better times ahead.

I know full well the responsibilities that await me as I enter the door of No. 10 and I'll strive unceasingly to try to fulfil the trust and confidence that the British people have placed in me and the things in which I believe.

One of the tasks that we clearly have is to rebuild trust in our political system.  
We need to change what is not currently working and in delivering change we must change too. Parliament must change so that we in Parliament are working for you the British people.

But I believe it is also something else. It is about being honest about what government can achieve. Real change is not what government can do on its own - real change is when everyone pulls together, comes together, works together, where we all exercise our responsibilities to ourselves, to our families, to our communities and to others.

And I want to help try and build a more responsible society. One where we don't just ask what are my entitlements, but what are my responsibilities. One where we don't ask what am I just owed, but more what can I give. 

I want to make sure that my government always looks after the elderly, the frail and the poorest in our country.

We must take everyone through with us on some of the difficult decisions we have ahead.  
Above all it will be a government that is built on some clear values: freedom, honesty, fairness, equality and responsibility.

I want us to build an economy that rewards work. I want us to build a society with stronger families and communities. And I want a political system that people can trust and look up to once again.

It means giving everyone in our country a chance so that no matter where you’re from you have the opportunity to make the most of your life. It means giving the poorest people the chance of training, a job, and hope for the future. It means that for children who don’t get the best start in life there must be the nursery education and good schooling that can transform their life chances, and of course it means bringing together the different nations of our United Kingdom.

I want us to build a fair society that provides equal opportunity.  
When it comes to opportunity, we won't entrench the advantages of the fortunate few. We will do everything we can to help anybody, whatever your background, to go as far as your talents will take you.

We also need to provide security to the people. Security isn’t just about guarding our citizens from security threats, and increase the number of police officers. Security comes from economic prosperity, from good education & good jobs.

I plan to invest 100 billion pounds in infrastructure, technology and pledges to carry out the most important review of the defense and security policy of the kingdom and its place in the world since the end of the Cold War, a review that will involve the military, counterterrorism services and intelligence services.

These colossal investments in infrastructure & science, using our incredible technological advantages will make this country the cleanest, greenest on earth with the most far-reaching environmental program. You voted to be carbon neutral by 2050 and we will do it.

This one-nation Conservative government will massively increase our investment in the NHS. The NHS is there for all of us when we are sick, and every day that service performs miracles, like they have done recently for me. The NHS is this one-nation Conservative Government’s top priority and we will deliver a long-term NHS budget enshrined in law, 650 million pounds extra every week, health secretary.

We are also going to pursue the current policy of limiting immigration and continue to bring the migratory balance to the level of tens of thousands of people per year.

Let’s unite this country, let’s spread opportunity to every corner of the United Kingdom, with great education, strong infrastructure, and at the top of the technology.

I am undaunted in my determination to build an ever prouder future: together, we can make Great Britain greater. 

Dieu et mon droit.

Thank you."

Later that day, they rest in the sofa, in Julia’s apartment, in the arms of each other and they watch the news which are mainly a coverage of her speech and speculations about the choice of her government.

The BBC speaker is also relaying the press release prepared by Julia, her PR team & David: “Julia Montague is moving into Downing Street with her partner, David Budd. They will occupy the large flat above No 11, as David Budd has 2 young children. The couple will be moving in officially on Monday. They will bring their own furniture and there will not be any additional cost to the taxpayer of her partner living there”. 

The speaker then adds: “However, as they are not officially married, David Budd was not at her side during her speech but he joined her mum, staff members and supporters outside the steps of No 10. He joined her after her speech and they walked hand in hand to the main entrance door where they posed together, before entering together for her first time as Prime Minister”. 

Julia & David smile at each other. They know it was the right decision to spare the susceptibilities. 

They love each other dearly, they both know it and that is enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Julia's speech is inspired by her speech at St Matthews, David Cameron's speeches, Boris Johnson's, Theresa May's and Margaret Thatcher's speech.  
> Next chapter: Conservative Black & White ball
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	15. Conservative Black & White ball

The evening after their move in the flat in 11 Downing Street, after some fish & chips on the sofa, Julia & David are relaxing in the arms of each other, lying in the sofa and going through the planning of the coming weeks. 

“On the 6th February, there is the Conservative Black & White ball”.  
“What is it? A Tories ball where you have to wear Black & White clothes?”  
“In a nutshell, yes. Each year, early February, the Conservative party members gather for the Black and White annual fundraising party.  
It's the highlight of the Tory party fundraising calendar. 

Super-rich Tory donors splashed tens of thousands on cosy dinners with ministers and luxury holidays as they dine on Michelin star food and drink fine wine.  
Guests pay up to £15,000 a table to rub shoulders with Cabinet Ministers and take part in an exclusive auction.  
Private dinners and events with nine cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister are sold to the highest bidder. Last year, an unnamed donor paid 75,000£ for a private night at the Proms with the Prime Minister”

“What? Julia, there is no way this is going to happen! It’s totally out of question! I will not let somebody pay 100K£ to spend one evening with you! You are not a prostitute! This is just indecent and immoral. This is wrong”  
“David, the principle of this fundraising was created many years ago, this is the biggest fundraising event of the party. I am the Prime Minister, I have to attend (and I would love to attend with you) and I have to play the game by the rules & accept the auction with me”  
“I know who you are, love. But I am not going to let you spend an evening with a super-rich Tory who paid for it and who probably hopes to get into your knickers. This is not going to happen”  
“David, what is bothering you? You know that I love you and that the winner of the auction will not get into my knickers! No fat chance of that happening. I love you and I am faithful & loyal to you”  
“What is bothering me? Julia, I can’t even imagine you acknowledging this principle! It’s pernicious! All the kind of wrong“  
“OK, I understand your reservations, David. But I need to offer something. What if you are with me?”  
“Julia, these are not reservations. I am totally against it!”  
“OK, I get that David, but I don’t have a choice. I have to offer something for that auction!”  
“Meaning that you don’t care about my opinion then!” and David storms out of the room, takes his jacket and slams the door behind him. 

Julia is left alone in Downing Street, sighing. She knew this would happen at some point but she did not expect it to happen so quickly after her nomination. She knows her new position as the leader of the country requires some adjustments from both of them. But she also knows that some things will not be negotiable with the party and this is one of them. 

Julia tries to have some work done, but doesn’t succeed as the fight with David is clouding her mind. 

David is walking in St James’s Park and reflects on their fight. He knew that would happen at some point and he knows his pride is hurt. He doesn’t understand the principle of somebody paying for an evening with his girlfriend/ love/ lover/ partner/ future wife. He knew he had to get ready to share Julia with the whole country now, but not like that, the principle reminds him the movie “Indecent proposal” with Robert Redford and Demi Moore. But then he realizes there is a massive difference: it’s not one night, it’s one evening. At the end of the day, it’s no different than when Julia is having work dinner with diplomates or Foreign Country Leaders.  
He suddenly feels a bit stupid & immature and the only thing he wants to do is to hug Julia tightly in his arms. He also realizes the pressure of the last few weeks has twisted his judgment.

He comes back to their flat.  
“Love, I am back. Where are you?”  
Julia is in their bathroom, getting ready for the night, brushing her teeth so she doesn’t answer straight away.  
“I am here David, in our bathroom”  
David enters the bathroom  
“I am so sorry Julia. I overreacted and I was immature”  
“I understand David. All these changes are difficult, I have to adjust to it as well”  
“But I shouldn’t have stormed off like that, I am sorry. I just needed some fresh air and some time to think”  
“I know”

David mumbles and finally says: “what about a meal for 2, cooked by the PM & her partner, at Chequers with the PM & her partner. And I want half of the amount to be donated to a charity of my choice, helping Army Veterans to reintegrate in civil life and helping them battling mental illnesses”  
“I think this is a very good idea. You will be there and the person will be there with a partner or friend. It will not be in our home. None of the previous Prime Ministers has done that. The full amount will go to the Party but I promise you to pay myself half of the amount to the Charity of your choice. You got yourself a deal Sergeant Budd. By the way, I really liked seeing your jealous & possessive side” and she kisses him passionately. 

“For your information, there is also a raffle (A £100 a ticket) with holidays, dinners, Cirque du Soleil VIP tickets and other gifts from which I have banned any birds shoot or hunting lots this year”  
“I was not expecting anything else from you, love”  
“David, there is something else we need to discuss”

“What, love?”  
“Ella & Charlie are entitled to a PPO each and you as well, when you are not in any police office”  
“I knew that was coming”  
“And?”  
“I know we can’t avoid it and I understand that it’s better to protect the kids. For me, I am struggling with it a bit more, as I think I am able to defend myself but on the other hand, I know I could possibly be a target to reach you and I want to take that stress out of you, so yes, I accept as well. But I want to choose the 3 PPOs. For the kids, I know some of the PPOs specialized for kids and I also want Vicky to be involved in the choice”  
“Of course. Please provide me with your shortlist and I will ask my PA to organize the interviews with you & Vicky”  
“OK, and I will call Vicky & the kids tomorrow and explain the situation and answer their potential questions or reservations”

“Great. And for you, do you already think about someone in particular?”  
“Well, Kim would have been my first choice of course but well, this is unfortunately not possible. Can you, please, ask William Bridge or Tim Wallace, if William is not available”

“OK, thank you David for not fighting about this. It will indeed provide me some peace of mind. Well, I think we didn’t do too badly for our first big fight”  
“I don’t like fighting with you”  
“I know, but it was unavoidable at some point. We are both stubborn, have a lot of pride and want to have the last word”  
“True. Can I take you to bed now, Prime Minister. The best part of a domestic fight is about to start now: makeup sex”  
“I can’t wait’  
“After this walk, I think I need a shower” says David huskily.  
“Mmmm. Yes, I think you do Sergeant”  
“Do you imply I smell bad, Ma’am?” teases David  
“No, I just want to take a shower with you” 

They undress each other quickly and she turns the rainshower on.  
They both step under the running water whilst kissing passionately.

The warm water drips down their body. David gently pushes her on the tiled shower wall. They explore each other body with their hands and their tongue, like they were discovering each other for the first time. David gently caresses her back as his chest touches her breasts, his lips placing tender kisses on her neck before sucking at her pulse point. He pinches her nipples before sucking them and biting them, which generates a loud moan from Julia. David puts his hand between her thighs and his thumb starts to massage her clit in circles, applying more pressure from time to time. 

“David, stop, please. I want you inside me. Now”  
Julia starts to rock her hips against him impatiently. “Here. Against the wall.”  
“Your desires are orders, Ma’am”

Julia likes the feeling of the cool tiles against her back whilst the warm water is running down on them and David’s body rocking against hers slowly.  
“Please, David”  
“Please what, Julia”  
“Stop teasing” and she wraps her leg around his, stroking his cock with her right hand and tugging his curls with his left hand. “I want you to take me roughly”  
David lifts her legs around his waist, pushes his hips up, enters her roughly and starts to thrust into her, his face buried into her neck, groaning more and more loudly as his orgasm is building up.  
Julia whispers words of encouragement until she is losing her mind and her senses. She feels David pinning her harder against the wall and with a few more thrusts she comes hard in his arms, crying out his name. He follows her soon after, spilling into her profusely. 

They collapse gently on the floor, in the arms of each other, coming down from their climax, with the rain from the shower flowing around them.  
“I think we need a real shower now”  
“Yes, we do”  
Julia takes her loofah sponge & her Jo Malone Red Roses soap and gives it to David. David washes her gently, taking his time to trace every curve of her body. Then David takes his Marseille soap and his natural sponge from Greece and gives it to Julia. She washes him gently as well, caressing his well-defined broad muscles and being careful with the scars on his back.  
They dry each other and finally go to sleep, David spooning her. 

Her first week as Prime Minister passes very quickly. Julia presents the full list of her cabinet members and all her ministers & secretaries of state to the Queen on their first Wednesday weekly meeting. She approved all her choices. 

They have Ella & Charlie for their first weekend in Downing Street. They are both very excited and they got used to their PPOs very easily, having experienced it with Julia for several months now.  
On Saturday night, they go to the British Museum, which was privatized for them and they all enjoy it very much, especially the Egyptian Hall.  
On Sunday, Julia goes shopping with Ella for her outfit for the ball.  
She decides to go for a black lace evening gown, floor length, with a V shaped cleavage at the front and at the back; a white faux fur stole, a pearly white pouch and pearly white flat shoes.  
David is hiring a tuxedo and he wants to surprise Julia by wearing a white tuxedo jacket, on top of a white shirt, a black bow-tie and a black tuxedo pant. Charlie is very impressed.  
“Dad, you look like James Bond”  
“Thank you son, I hope Julia will think the same”  
They both laugh.

On Wednesday evening, they are getting ready for the ball. Julia in their bedroom and David in Charlie’s bedroom.  
David is waiting for her in the living-room whilst playing Candy Crush on his phone.  
Julia enters the room.  
“David, I am ready”  
“Waouw, Julia you look so beautiful, love”  
“And you Sergeant Budd, look like James Bond”  
They kiss softly.  
“Would you like to be my James Bond’s girl tonight, Prime Minister”  
“Yes, 007”  
“Let’s go then”

They arrive at Battersea Evolution, in Battersea Park.  
Lots of photographers are taking pictures of the beautiful couple, dressed to the nines. 

David is attracting all women’s eyes, he really looks like James Bond with his white tuxedo, but with the way he is looking at Julia, all women know they don’t stand a chance. 

David & Julia are sitting with an older couple and a younger couple. The young woman can’t take her eyes off of David. Julia is getting pissed off and David can feel it becoming uncomfortable. He takes her hand kindly and murmurs in her ear: “don’t be jealous, love. I can’t take my eyes off of you and I can’t wait to make love to you”  
Julia smiles kindly at him. Then she takes his hand and put it on her thigh and murmurs back in his ear: “what about right now?”

David looks at her with wide eyes and nods.  
“Would you, please, excuse us for a moment”  
David follows her and she notifies her PPO “I am going to the ladies room and David will look after me, no need to follow us”

David makes sure the ladies room are empty & secure and lets Julia in. After a quick look around, he follows her in the room and closes the door with the latch.  
Julia doesn’t waste a second and slams him against the door and attacks his mouth with passion. David answering eagerly.  
She starts to remove his belt, unzip his pants and kneels in front of him. She puts his pants and boxer shirts down, takes his sex into her mouth and she starts to suck it greedily. David groans and caresses her head. 

“Love, stop. I want to come inside you, not inside your mouth”  
He gently pulls her back up, kisses her breathless and starts to pull up her dress, he puts her knickers aside and enters one finger in her sex to test her wetness. She is more than ready for him.  
He carries her and sits her on the edge of a piece of furniture. He removes her knickers and she parts her legs for him. He enters her with one strong thrust, making them both cry out discretely. They kiss passionately whilst David keeps thrusting into her with reckless abandon until they reach their peak simultaneously. Their kisses masking the noise when the orgasm hits them. 

They stay in the arms of each other for several minutes, David caressing her head, Julia caressing his cheeks, and kissing tenderly.  
“We should probably go back before my PPOs starts a “Prime Minister rescue mission” in all the ladies room of this venue.  
“And before they start the auction, without the Prime Minister”

They get dressed, splash some water on their reddened faces and Julia adjusts her make-up slightly and her lipstick.  
David leads the way out for Julia and they were lucky enough that nobody was waiting in front of these ladies room, as David has guided them to the most remote ones of the venue.

They came back to their seats, just in time for the diner to be served. They dined on seabass, followed by braised short rib, vichy carrots and crushed swede, prepared by Michelin star chef Angela Hartnett. Dessert was poached pears with ricotta cream, dried cherries and pistachios.

The auction is a massive success and the dinner for 2 at Chequers with Julia & David beats the fundraising record as it is awarded to an anonymous donator for 150K£.  
Julia is very happy and David as well, as a very good amount of money will go for the COMBATSTRESS charity, the UK’s leading charity for veterans’ mental health. 

They go home and after they pass the door of the apartment, it’s David’s turn to slam Julia on the wall and to kiss her passionately.  
He unzip her dress at the back, which falls on the ground as a black lace pool. She is wearing a matching black lace bra & knickers which are quickly discarded. David’s tuxedo jacket is on the floor as quick, she removes the buttons of his shirt starting from the bottom one until he can take his shirt off over his head. David is kissing her breast and his mouth is finding the ripe peak of a nipple, sending like an electric shock all over her body. 

“You are insatiable, Sergeant Budd”  
“You, and only you, have that effect on me, Prime Minister”  
“Mmm I am glad”

It’s David’s turn to kneel in front of her and to kiss her trembling sex several times. He starts to lick her core and caresses her thighs.  
David removes his tuxedo pants, his boxer shorts and bends her on a massive armchair. He takes her roughly from behind while massaging her breast and kissing her spine. She reaches her peak and he follows her quickly after with a loud groan.

He carries her in their bedroom and they fall asleep in the arms of each other, fully satiated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Valentine's day
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	16. Valentine's Day

It’s Valentine’s Day. Julia had to leave the flat very early for a meeting with Mike Travis. She prepared a tray for him with buttered toasts, marmalade and porridge (one amongst the little things she can cook), coffee is warm in the coffee machine and she got him a new mug - a Celtic FC one. She left a note: “See you tonight, my Valentine. Love. Julia”. David smiles, he feels like a teenager again, this is so refreshing. 

The day is passing quickly, David leaves the office, comes back home and buys a card on his way back. He has written: “Happy Valentine’s Day Julia. Every day I love you more and more. Every day, I chose you and I chose to build our own happiness. I love you. David”. He had also bought an orchid, to replace the one she has in the den at Overstrand Mansions which did not like the move to Downing Street. He prepares homemade fries, mashed peas and he prepares the fish batter. He had also prepared a Jamie Oliver’s lemon pie (one of Julia’s favorite desserts) the previous day, in secret. He quickly showered and he is waiting for Julia in their flat with no clothes on, except a black bow tie (and a bathrobe whilst he is waiting for her). She texts him she will be home around 19h30.

It’s 19h45, Julia is not home yet and she didn’t text him to let him know she was late. This is not like her. David is suddenly worried. He tries to reason with himself and calm down, using one of the meditation techniques his therapist has taught him but it doesn’t work. “Come on David, calm down. Parliament surely overran”. 

His phone is ringing. He jumps on it, looks at the screen: “Anne Sampson”  
David answers the phone trembling slightly: “PS Budd”  
“David, it’s Sampson. We have a code red. I repeat, we have a code red”  
David crumbles to the ground  
“What happened?” says David with a trembling voice  
“She got kidnapped. She was buying a Valentine’s card in a shop on her way back from Parliament, the shop was packed with people. She was at the cash register and 3 men sprayed self-defense protection gas in the eyes of her PPOs simultaneously and 2 women wearing burqas did the same to her & the cashier. The women put a burqa on her swiftly, each grabbed her holding her under her arms and left the shop pointing a gun in her back. They all disappeared in a van which was waiting for them in the street. It was very quick. Chirurgical”  
“Does the GPS implant works?”  
“Yes”  
“Where is she?”  
“The vehicle she is in is still moving. We are tracing it and following the vehicle at safe distance. Special Air Service (SAS) are ready to give the assault as soon as the vehicle stops”  
“I am going with them”  
“No David. We are going to get her out of there alive and she would never forgive me if anything happens to you. There is an ARV waiting for you outside with 3 men, all top notch. They have all the relevant information, equipment and materials you might need. You will be one of the ARV back-up vehicles of the SAS teams and you will be one of the first persons there after the SAS’ assault”.  
“OK, thank you”  
“That’s the least I could do, David. She is going to be fine. We are going to save her, I promise you. Now go David and good luck”  
David is grabbing a Tshirt, boxer shorts, socks, sweatpants & a hoodie. He dresses quickly, takes his phone and an ultra fast charge external battery and he is out in the street.

“Hi PS Budd. I am Captain Stark, this is Captain Haskell and Captain Reid“  
“Hi. What’s the status?”  
“The vehicle transporting Lavender is still moving and followed by SAS vehicles at safe distance, using the GPS implant”  
“OK”  
“Here is your uniform, bulletsproof vest, helmet, watch and combat shoes. We have got several types of guns. Which ones do you want?”  
“Can I have 2 glocks & a C8 CQB, please”  
“Good choice, same as mine”  
“OK, let’s go! Let’s save Julia”  
“And keep you alive Sergeant”  
Davis nods. They continue to drive in silence. Until the radio is telling them “Lavender’s vehicle stopped. She is in a house in the middle of the English countryside, a 10 min drive from your position. We have to stop and we have to progress by foot from now on”  
David’s phone is buzzing.  
“PS Budd”  
“It’s Sampson David. The kidnappers called us. They are not asking for a ransom but they want a swap of “prisoner”. They want us to release Nadia Ali in exchange of Julia”  
“What? Fuck !”  
“What did you answer ?“  
“David, they are holding our Prime Minister as a hostage. Of course we said yes, but I tried to save us some time. The exchange will happen in 2 hours”  
“OK, received”  
“The SAS team is going to contact you as they will need your team and 3 others as back-up”  
“OK, received”

They meet the SAS teams in the woods around the house. They are briefed quickly.  
“There are 2 guards patrolling outside the house. The thermic camera shows 8 people inside: 3 downstairs & 5 upstairs. One of the silhouette upstairs is not moving, so we think this is the Prime Minister”  
“Sir, does the thermic camera show a normal temperature?” asks David.  
“You must be David Budd”  
“Yes, Sir”  
“Yes, the temperature is normal. She is alive”  
“Thank you, Sir”

“On top of the main entrance, there are 3 windows downstairs and 4 upstairs”  
“Here is the plan. 2 snipers will kill the guards simultaneously, to avoid them to raise the alarm. They will also provide back-up, if necessary, and we have 3 ARVs teams in back-up as well”  
“We will progress quickly by groups of 2 or 3 and each group will enter simultaneously by the main door and all the windows. For the windows upstairs, we need a group of 3 as one man will help the 2 others to climb”  
“The surprise effect will help us to progress quickly. The only objective is to get the Prime Minister out of there alive. Is that clear?”  
“Yes, Sir!” they answer all together with a low voice

“All the roads are blocked, in case they manage to escape, which is very unlikely. We also have a team of deminers ready to intervene. Paramedics are on-site as well, in case of and in all cases, to check the Prime Minister health after the operation”  
“Any question?”  
“Sir, I would like to be one of the 3 men entering the window which is closer to where you think Ju.. the Prime Minister is hold”  
“Sergeant Budd, this was already planned. I will be with you and Captain Mc Conaughey”  
“Thank you Sir”  
“Sir, I also want to inform you that the Prime Minister has been trained to Self-Defense & in shooting”  
“Ahh.. and who trained her?”  
“I did, Sir”  
“OK, thank you Sergeant. We will take an additional gun for her, in case of. Does she has any preference?”  
“She likes to shoot with a standard Glock, Sir”  
“OK”  
“Let’s go! And remember: “Who dares wins””  
They reply all together with a low voice: “Who dares wins”

It’s dark outside, the moon is hidden by dark clouds, and the trees around the house provide a good ground to advance.  
They are all in position. The SAS commandant gives the signal and the 2 snipers kill the guards. No noise, no gunshot to raise the alarm.  
They progress quickly. There is only an hour left now before the exchange. They are very careful where they put their feet, in case there are some wires linked to alarms.  
They are all in position.

“3, 2, 1: GO”  
They enter and manage to kill the 3 terrorists downstairs and 2 upstairs very quickly. There are 2 terrorists left and Julia in the same room.  
The Commandant and David are both outside the door. The other men are close, as back-up.  
“David, I enter first and I take the one on the left. You take the one on the right.  
“OK”  
They break down the door, the commandant enters the room, one terrorist shots him in the stomach and he falls on the ground. David enters the room and shoots him. The other terrorist is holding Julia against his chest, as a body armor, a gun pointed on her head.  
“If you shoot me, she dies. You are going to step back. All of you”  
David looks at Julia, she looks at him and nods lightly.  
“Now!”  
Julia nudges the terrorist and dives to the floor.  
David doesn’t hesitate and shoots him twice in the head and runs towards her, pull her gently back on her feet and hold her tight in his arms. 

“It’s over. It’s over”  
“You came for me. You came for me“  
“Of course, I came for you, love. Julia, you are safe. You are safe. I love you”  
“Love, the commandant needs help”  
David crouches down and checks his injury.  
“I will be fine, David. Paramedics will be there soon” One of his man is applying pressure on the wound.  
“Thank you very much to allow me to come with you. It was an honor to combat with the Special Air Service”  
Julia crouches down and says: “Thank you very much Commandant. I wish you a speed recovery”  
“It was an honor Prime Minister. You are safe. That’s all that matters”  
“Thank you”  
“Come on love. Let’s get out of here” 

David cuts the ropes the terrorists used to tie his hands with a switchblade and checks if she is OK.  
“I am OK David, I was well treated. They were never violent or threatening my life, until you assaulted the house”  
They leave the house and join the rest of the SAS men.  
Julia feels very emotional.  
“Thank you, thank you to all of you for saving me today”  
They all discretely nod.  
“Really, I am very grateful. Thank you”  
“Let’s go home, David”  
David doesn’t answer but hugs her as tightly as he can.

Sampson arrives on the scene and see them in the arms of each other, holding tight.  
“Julia, I am so happy you are safe”  
“Anne, thank you. I am very grateful”  
They hug briefly. After all their heated exchanges, these two strong women are finally burying the hatchet and show that they respect each other.  
“Julia, before going home, you need to be checked at the hospital”  
“I am fine, Anne. I just want to go to bed”  
“Prime Minister, please, I insist. At least some blood tests & toxicological exams and a full body MRI scan”  
“Love, she is right. I know you are exhausted, but this is the right thing to do”  
“OK, you are both right. Let’s go”

“We will make it as easy and as quick as possible, I promise you. There is an ambulance waiting for you, right here. They are going to perform the initial checks, blood tests & toxicological exams during your transfer to the hospital. You will just have to pass the full body MRI scan at the hospital whilst they run the analysis and you will be free to go if the MRI scan and the preliminary results available at Day 0 are OK”  
“Thank you”  
“I will keep you posted when we have information on the identity of the men in the house & their boss”  
“Thank you so much, Anne”

It’s around 3 a.m. when they finally come back to their flat. The preliminary results & the MRI scan were OK. They will get additional results on Friday afternoon.  
“Do you want to eat something love?”  
“No, I just want a quick shower and sleep in your arms”  
“OK, call me if you need anything. I will have a quick sandwich whilst you are under the shower”  
David is eating his sandwich in silence in the kitchen. Suddenly, he realizes Julia is sobbing under the shower. He is beside her in a few seconds, he undresses himself quickly, steps inside the shower and holds her tight. He gently caresses her hair, her back, her cheeks, pressing his body on hers.  
“You are safe Julia. You are safe. You are safe. You are safe”  
He gently washes her, she washes him, they cuddle under the rainshower. 

“Let’s go to bed love. Let me just tidy up the kitchen quickly”  
“No, we will do that tomorrow. Stay with me, please”  
“Julia, I want you to see Devon tomorrow”  
“I will. I already texted my PA to book an appointment with him tomorrow as the top priority and to cancel all my appointments. I will not go back to the office until Monday”  
“Wise decision. I am happy. And I have already said to Sampson that tomorrow I will not go to the office. I have texted Deepak & Louise as well”  
“Let’s sleep now”  
“David I am sorry for our evening. It was supposed to be our first Valentine’s together”  
“Nothing to be sorry for. We are alive. We are together. I love you. You love me. Nothing else matters”  
They go to bed, David spooning her and holding her tight in his arms. Gently caressing her hair until she falls asleep.  
Julia has a very bad nightmare and wakes-up 2 hours later in a panic attack.  
“Julia, it’s OK. You are safe. We are in our flat. I am with you. I am OK too. You are safe. Breath in, out, in, out”

They wake-up at 1 p.m. Slowly. They cuddle.  
“Stay in bed love, I am going to prepare some breakfast and bring it here on a tray in bed”  
“Thank you darling”  
They eat their breakfast in silence.  
“Do you know at what time you are going to meet Devon?”  
“He is going to come here actually, around 16h and he will see both of us”  
“OK. Not a bad idea that I see him as well, actually”

“Do you need to do a press conference?”  
“No. An official statement was released by Mike this morning and he will handle the press conference. Unless the stock exchanges are getting mad if rumors I am injured or dead are damaging”  
“I am very proud of you love”  
“Why?”  
“Because you have learned to delegate to your Ministers and your team in general”  
“You are right, I have improved on that. I think it’s because I am more balanced outside work”  
“Julia, normally Ella & Charlie are coming this weekend. Do you want me to ask Vicky to switch?”  
“No David, I will be happy to see them”  
“OK, I will call Vicky to confirm then”

“David, thank you so much for having insisted to put the GPS implant when I was elected”  
“No need to thank me Love”  
“David, it saved my life yesterday”  
“Yes, you are right. Without it, we would never have been able to find you so quickly. I am happy I managed to convince you”  
“I know that you will never let anything bad happen to me”  
David doesn’t reply and simply kisses her. 

“Do you want a piece of Homemade Jamie Oliver’s lemon tart? My plan for Valentine’s was to spread it on each other’s body and eat it & lick it on the other’s body”  
“Hmmmm I really like the idea, but I am not in the mood for that David”  
“Of course, I understand, love. Do you still want a piece of the pie, in a plate with a spoon then?”  
“I would love that”  
“Don’t move. I will be right back”  
Julia’s phone is ringing.  
“Hello Anne”  
“Hello Julia. How do you do?”  
“I am OK, we have just finished our breakfast”  
David is coming back in the room with 2 big pieces of the lemon tart on two plates and 2 spoons. Julia puts Anne on speakerphones.  
“Anne, David is back in the room. You are on speakerphone”

“I have got some news: the kidnappers were all coming from Syria and their boss, also present in the house was Nadia Ali’s brother. He wanted to free his sister. We have identified & arrested all their accomplices in the UK. We have also some good leads to arrest their smugglers and potentially the whole network. Several satellite phones have been found in the house and are very useful”  
“Thank you Anne, this is a very good news indeed. Please, let us know if you manage to arrest more people”  
“Of course, Julia. May I also ask you if you want to change the members of your PPO’s team?”  
“No, why are you asking?”  
“Well, they feel they have let you down and they all asked me to be removed from your protection team as they have failed you”  
“They did not failed me. It happened so quickly and it was so well coordinated. There was nothing they could have done, but we will all need to take the time to learn from what happened. I want to be able to go out and feel safe. I will talk to them later today. They will bring Ella & Charlie later this afternoon”  
“OK. Thank you”  
“Bye now”

“Love, are you sure you don’t want to change your PPO’s?”  
“Yes, I am sure” replies Julia in an exasperated tone rolling her eyes.  
David is very surprised by her reaction but doesn’t say anything.  
“They did not make any mistake. But I want to add 2 more discreet agents, in civil clothes when I am going in public places, as you suggested when I entered Downing Street. I should have listen to you”  
“Well, you are now. Your PPO’s are top notch, they must feel pretty bad. I can be there with you when you talk to them later, if you want”  
“No, David. You are my partner, not my head of security. I will handle it” says Julia harshly  
Again, David is very surprised by her tone, but of course, he understands. She has been under so much stress the day before.  
“OK, you are right” says David calmly “I did not want to be controlling or anything, I just care about you and I wanted to help”.  
“Can we have our dessert now?”  
“Yes Ma’am” 

It’s 4 p.m., the doorbell rings. Julia is opening the door.  
“Welcome to Downing Street Devon”  
“Hello Julia. I am very impressed to be here actually and to see what’s behind that door. But enough about me. How are you feeling?”  
“I am feeling slightly better this afternoon as they have arrested the accomplices and other people from their networks. We had a good brunch but I had a panic attack during the night”  
“Hello Devon. Thank you for coming here this afternoon”  
“Hello David. How are you feeling?”  
“I am feeling tired, the adrenalin rush kept me awake for the biggest part of the night, Julia had a nasty panic attack but afterwards we slept until 1 p.m. Then we had the good news about the arrest of the people behind the attack”  
“Good. I will start with Julia and then we will talk as well”  
“OK, thank you Devon” David leaves the room after a light peck on Julia’s lips.

“So Julia, do you want to talk about what happened yesterday?”  
“No”  
“Do you want to talk about your panic attack during the night?”  
“No”  
“Do you have plans for this weekend?”  
“Ella & Charlie are spending the weekend with us. We are supposed to go all together to the theater and see “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part’ which was released on February 8th, but I am not going to go with them”  
“Why?”  
“I don’t want to go out in public”  
“Why?”  
“Because I am fucking scared! There, happy? That’s what you wanted me to say isn’t it?”  
“Julia, why are you so aggressive?”  
“I have been kidnapped!” snapped Julia! “After surviving a sniper attack & a bomb!”

“Do you want to talk about how you felt in the van or in the house?”  
Julia’s voice softened a bit “All I could think of was David. That I might never see him again. But at the same time, I knew the police was able to track me thanks to the GPS implant David insisted on inoculate me when I was elected. So I was hoping for a rescue mission”  
“And how did you react when the rescue mission happened?”  
“I was relieved to start with but then I was so scared the terrorists would kill me”

“What happened next?”  
“There were only 2 terrorists left with me in one room. One man entered the room and was shot by one terrorist who was then shot down immediately by the second man entering the room and I realized it was David. The last terrorist was pointing a gun on my head and asked David to back off. This is a situation we have rehearsed so many times with David during our self-defense sessions, I knew what I had to do. David gave me the signal and I nudged the terrorist and dove to the floor to give David a clean line of fire to avoid the terrorist to harm me and to prevent David from hurting me accidently”  
“And how do you feel about David rescuing you?”  
“I was so relieved to see him and that we were both alive, unhurt and safe. But what the fuck was he doing there? He could have been killed for fuck's sake and his kids would have been fatherless, because of me!”  
“Did you tell him that?”  
“No”

“And then?”  
“Last night, we had lots of kisses, cuddles and he hold me tight. He managed to calm my panic attack quickly, which was great. But now, I am so scared to be dependent on him, I pushed him away earlier. I wanted to have sex with him after he mentioned something he prepared for Valentine’s day but I pushed him away. And I have been talking aggressively to him”  
“You mentioned your sex life was very active, very satisfactory, fulfilling, adventurous & respectful of the other. You said, you wanted to have sex with him, so why did you rejected him Julia?”  
“I am so scared of losing him. I think I unconsciously pushed him away to avoid to be hurt in case he dies or leaves me”  
“OK, It’s very good that you are able to analyze your behaviors & feelings the ways you do. We have talked about that before, no one can prevent other people to die, especially people we love, but this is a risk we have to take in life. The same for couples splitting up: you can’t prevent it from happening, but you can’t enjoy fully a relationship if you keep thinking the man you love is going to leave you. Roger cheated on you, so abandoned you in a way and you left him. Your dad died abruptly but David is alive and David loves you Julia”  
“I know and I deeply love him”  
“Good. You have to learn to push aside your worry to be the partner of a police officer, which is a dangerous job and to be able to love despite the risk of losing. Also, please, keep in mind that David is training to be a Detective Inspector, he is not patrolling in the dangerous streets of London, he is not facing danger in his job every day and he isn’t a PPO to anybody anymore”

“You are right. And I know that, and I am very proud of him and of what he is doing. But it’s heavy for me to know he would still give his life to save me”  
“I will work on that with him. You both also need to learn to communicate more, even if you both improved a lot quickly on that. And don’t forget: Love is stronger than fear”  
“Thank you Devon”  
“Now, I suggest we do a hypnosis session to help with your anxiety and to get things out of your system. Are you OK with that?”  
“Yes”  
After the session, Devon asks her to stay “aware” of her feelings and try to express them to David, instead of pushing him away, and he also asks her to go to the movie theater with David, Ella & Charlie. Julia nodded: “I will try”.  
“Good, I suggest I come again on Sunday, if that’s OK with you?”  
“Vicky is picking up Ella & Charlie at 5 p.m.”  
“I can come at 5:30 p.m. if that’s OK with you?”  
“Yes, thank you Devon. I feel calmer already”  
“Great, see you on Sunday Julia. Have some rest now”. Julia feels very tired and goes to bed.

David enters the room.  
“Do you want to drink something Devon?”  
“A cuppa would be nice”  
“Do you want to join me in the kitchen while I am preparing it?” looking at him insistently.  
Devon got the hint and answers “Yes, that would be great, so we can start to discuss there”  
“David, what’s up?”  
“I wanted to be a bit further from our bedroom for our discussion”  
“OK, what is bothering you?”  
“Julia is not doing well, I am scared of a relapse of her PTSD”  
“Julia has faced 3 massive trauma in 5 months, of course she is still battling PTSD. And the last trauma happened less than 24h ago. That’s why we have done a hypnosis session today and I am coming back on Sunday”  
“Thank you so much Devon” 

“However, now I want to talk about yourself David. You have saved Julia twice, which is great, but we need to be careful that you don't fall into the savior syndrome and you are also still battling your own PTSD”  
“Aye, I know about the savior syndrome. It’s part of our PPO’s training. I know the different signs and I am not ticking any box. But I love Julia, deeply, and I am very worried about my girlfriend, hopefully wife-to-be”  
“OK, as I said, we need to be careful about the syndrom, so, please, bear that in mind and be ware”  
“I will”

“How did you feel during the assault of the house?”  
“There were only 2 terrorists left with Julia in one room. The Commandant entered the room and was shot by one terrorist whom I shot down immediately. The last terrorist was pointing a gun on Julia’s head and asked me to back off. This is a situation we have rehearsed so many times with Julia during our self-defense sessions, she knew what she had to do. I gave her the signal and she nudged the terrorist and dove to the floor to give me a clean line of fire to avoid the terrorist to harm her and to prevent me from hurting her accidently”

“How did you feel when you entered the room?”  
“I was very concentrated and focused. I didn’t hesitate for a microsecond. I am very happy about that. Julia’s life was at stake, I could have been paralyzed but on the contrary, I was in overdrive and nothing could have stopped me”  
“Would you give your life for her?”  
“Of course, without any hesitation!”  
“David, that’s something we need to work on. Julia is scared to lose you: that either you die or leave her. It can be explained partially because she knows you would die for her and your kids would be fatherless “because of her”. It’s a heavy weight to carry for her. This is part of your ex-PPO role and also your chivalrous personality”  
“But I can’t change that”  
“No and that’s fine, but it needs to be manageable.. for Julia but also for your own sanity”

“OK, and how do I do that?”  
“First, I think you need to stop being involved in Julia’s security decisions or to be trying to help her by being involved. This is not your role anymore. This is very overwhelming for her”  
“She was very upset earlier when I offered to be present when she meets her PPOs later today to discuss further security measures. She was very aggressive”  
“I am not surprised. You have to delegate her security David. This is not your job anymore. Of course, you can provide advices or recommendations if she asks your opinion or if she asks you to practice self-defense, but you have to let it go and rebalance your behavior between being caring and overprotective”  
“I understand”

“Julia is the Prime Minister. She is the most guarded person in the UK, alongside the Queen. You can’t be by her side at all times and protect her against the rest of the world”  
“I know”  
“Good, I have advised Julia to go to the movie theatre with you, Ella & Charlie tomorrow evening. She needs to go out in a public space as soon as possible really. And as her partner, you can, of course, insist”  
“OK, I will do my best. The kids will help me without guidance as they love her and would like her to be there”  
“Good”  
“We will discuss on Sunday again, but please, try to take a step back regarding her security, relax and enjoy to love her and being loved in return”  
“OK, thank you very much Devon”

Ella & Charlie arrive and Julia is still asleep.  
“Dad, how is Julia going?”  
“She will be fine, Ella, don’t worry. She had an exhausting night, she just needs to sleep”  
They order some pizzas & they watch a movie together, the kids curled up against David. Julia is still sleeping, David is checking on her from time to time but she is peacefully asleep, looking so beautiful.  
David is putting the kids to bed, they are half asleep and don’t ask why Julia didn’t wake up. 

David is tip toeing in their bedroom and he spoons her gently and hold her against his chest. Julia doesn’t stir.  
David murmurs: “I love you Julia. I am never going to leave you. And I don’t intend to die until I am very old. I survived the war and I survived Thornton Circus & St Matthews”  
Julia doesn’t say anything and doesn’t move. David kisses her hair and finally fall asleep. 

The next morning, Julia wakes up first and she can hear Ella & Charlie watching cartoons on the main TV.  
She removes herself from David’s embrace, puts a bathrobe on and goes in the living-room.  
“Julia!” they both run into her to hug her tightly. “We are so happy to see you”  
“Me too, my little monsters”  
“Are you hungry?”  
“Yes!” they answer together.  
“Eggs?”  
“Oh yes, please, Julia. Should we wake-up Daddy? ”  
“No, Daddy needs some additional sleep this morning”  
“OK”  
They have breakfast together and then they play cards games. 

“Daddy!”  
“Hello David. Did you sleep well?”  
“I did, thank you for covering with the kids & letting me sleep. I needed it” says David whilst kissing her lightly on the lips.  
“Did you sleep well too?”  
“I did, thank you for letting me sleep last night. After the hypnosis session and all the emotions from the night before, I needed it”  
“I am glad” Julia laughs  
“Do you want some eggs for breakfast?”  
“No, thank you love. There is some porridge you made still left I think”  
“I will have another coffee whilst you eat your breakfast”  
David is eating some porridge and they drink coffee together. 

“What do you want to do today?”  
“First I will have a shower, then I am going to visit the SAS Commandant at the hospital”  
“Do you want me to come with you? “  
“No, David. I need to do that first step alone. It’s important for me. Too many people died because of me, I need to see by myself that he’s doing fine”  
“I understand Julia. I will supervise the kids homeworks whilst you are there”  
“Thank you David” and she kisses him lovingly.  
“What about we prepare a chocolate cake this afternoon and then we go to the movie theater tonight to watch that Lego 2 movie?”  
The kids are over the moon. “Yes! Thank you Julia”  
David mouths “Thank you. I love you”

Julia is showered and is ready to go to the hospital.  
Her PPO knocks: “Ready when you are, Prime Minister”  
“I am coming in a minute”  
“I am very proud of you, love. Everything is going to be OK. Please give him my best hello and my thanks” and he kisses her  
“I will do”  
She takes a deep breath, opens the door and steps out.  
The travel to the hospital is smooth and Julia stays calm. 

She enters the room of The Commandant.  
“Prime Minister”  
“Commandant Starlight’  
“This is my wife, Belinda”  
“Nice to meet you Prime Minister”  
“Nice to meet you. Please, call me Julia”  
“How are you feeling?”  
“I am doing well. I had some surgery to remove the bullet but none of my vital organs have been damaged, so I will be out of the hospital in a few days. I will have to take it easy for several weeks but I will recover fully”  
“I am very happy to hear that. I really want to thank you and your team for rescuing me”  
“That’s our job, Ma’am”  
“I know, but it was my life at stake, and I will be forever grateful”  
“Thank you, I really appreciate that”  
“How is David going?”  
“He is fine, thank you. He asked me to give you his best hello & his thanks”  
“Thanks, ditto”  
They discuss for 30 minutes about generalities, kids and the SAS. The nurse if coming in the room to perform some treatments, so Julia & Belinda leave the room.  
They talk quietly in the corridor.  
“Belinda, may I ask you a very personal question”  
“Euh, yes”  
“How do you cope on a day-to-day basis with the stress that he might not come home and that you might never see him again?“  
“« Love is stronger than fear » and I trust him completely to do everything in his power to come back alive. He is one of the best in his field and that keeps him alive and he is never alone, he can count on his team and his team can count on him”  
“Thank you for sharing this with me”  
“Julia, David is not a PPO, potentially risking his life for his protectee, anymore, he is not patrolling in the streets, he is not in the army anymore, he is training for Detective Inspector. He might be on some ground operations in the future, but not every day, and he survived a lot of hardships. He will be fine. You will be fine” and she hugs her briefly.  
“Thank you Belinda”

Julia is coming back to Downing Street. David & the kids are preparing the chocolate cake. Julia is kissing David lovingly and hugging him tightly.  
“How did it go?”  
“It went well, he says his best hello back to you. His wife was there as well and we had a good discussion”  
“Good, I am happy for you. Homeworks are all done and we wanted to surprise you with the chocolate cake”  
They have fish fingers, mashed potatoes and peas for lunch.  
Then they play Monopoly all together, some videos games and they eat the cake.  
They go to the movie theatre, watch the film whilst eating pop corns & sweets. 

On Sunday, they have a late breakfast as they came back late from the movie.  
They shower and dress up and then go for a walk in St James’s Park, they play football all together and then go to the children’s playground. Ella & Charlie are playing with other kids. Julia & David cuddle on a bench, looking at them.

“Julia, would you be my Valentine’s tonight? I would like to have a romantic dinner with you”  
“I will be your Valentine’s tonight and I will bring the wine”  
“Deal” and they kiss softly.  
They come back and have macaroni & cheese for their late lunch.  
They play board games all together and then Vicky picks them up.

Devon is arriving as Vicky is leaving.  
“Hello Devon”  
“Hello Julia, how are you feeling?”  
“Much better, thank you”  
“Hi Devon”  
“Hello David, how are you feeling?”  
“Much better, thank you”

Devon and Julia go to Julia’s office in the flat and David starts to prepare the dinner & dress the table and he put some candles here and there.  
“So, what happened since I saw you on Friday, Julia?”  
“After our session, I slept through the evening and the night. I woke-up and had breakfast with Ella & Charlie to let David sleep a bit later”  
“OK, and how did you feel after all these hours of sleep?”  
“Much better and much more relaxed as well”  
“Good”

“Then I went to the hospital to visit the SAS commandant who was injured in the rescue mission to save me”  
“So you left the flat, well done! Alone?”  
“Yes, I told David not to come”  
“How did he react?”  
“He was very supportive”  
“Good. And how was the travel to the hospital & the visit?”  
“It was OK, I felt safe. And I discussed with the commandant’s wife as we clicked immediately and she really helped me towards the fear to lose David because of the dangers inherent to his job”  
“How?”  
“Well, I realized that he was not facing danger every day anymore and that he was indeed on of the best in his field and that I needed to trust him to stay alive”  
“Very good”  
“And he talked to me whilst I was asleep, well, I woke up only for a few moments but I heard him, and I feel much more secure about our relationship”

“Brilliant. And did you share intimate moments since Friday?”  
“Well, not really as Ella & Charlie were there and I slept as a rock the first night and then the second night I was very tired as we came back very late from the movies”  
“Oh, so you went to the movie theater as well?”  
“Yes, I did”  
“Well done, Julia! You are definitely on the right path”  
“Thank you”  
“And how do you feel about going back to work tomorrow?”  
“I will be fine. I have asked for 2 more PPOs, undercover when I am in public space”  
“Yes, that’s great”

“Did you speak with David about your fear to lose him?”  
“No, but tonight we have a romantic dinner, instead of the one we were supposed to have on Valentine’s day on Thursday, it will be a good opportunity to come back on the topic and to share intimate moments”  
“OK, unless you want to discuss further, I suggest I talk to David now”  
“Great. Thank you Devon. I will take a long bath, before our romantic dinner”  
“Great! Enjoy! We will see each other on Thursday for our weekly session and feel free to call me if you want to talk to me before”  
“OK, thank you”

Julia leaves the room and David enters the room.  
“So David, what happened since Friday?  
“Well, Julia told you already what happened on Saturday I suppose”  
“Yes, so how did you feel when she told you she wanted to go to the hospital without you?”  
“I understood her need to face her fear alone”  
“And?”  
“I was not comfortable to let her go out for the first time since the kidnapping alone, but I love & respect her, I respect her needs and her choices. So I had to let her go alone”  
“Good, that’s a massive step David”  
“Yes, I am conscious of it”  
“How did you cope with it?  
“Well, I concentrated on the present, on Ella & Charlie”s homeworks and on preparing a surprise chocolate cake for when she was coming back. It was fine, really”  
“Very good. And on Saturday night ?”  
“We had my PPO and the kids PPOs with us, on top of Julia’s PPOs, we entered in the movie theater at the last minute, just before the movie was starting, so it was discrete and we all enjoyed it”  
“Were you swapping the room for potential dangers during the movie?”  
”Mmm… yes… sometimes”  
“OK, well, Rome was not built in one day and old habits are difficult to get rid of. And your chivalry is also one of the qualities Julia appreciates in you, so let’s not push that further. I am very proud of you”  
“Thank you”

“You have planned a romantic evening for tonight?”  
“Yes, the one we were supposed to have on Valentine’s day”  
“Great, I am going to leave you with it”  
“Thank you for everything you are doing for Julia & I, Devon”  
“You are welcome, this is my job”  
“Still, you came here on a Sunday, so thank you”  
“Have a good evening, bye”  
“You too, bye”

Julia & David are both getting ready for their romantic evening.  
He wears a black suit with a black shirt which makes the deep blue of his eyes even more beautiful. He wears the cufflinks she gave him at Christmas. He looks devastatingly young & sexy.  
She wears a long black crepe fabrics dress, with a deep cleavage in the front, a slit on the left side of the dress, black stockings and the necklace he gave her at Christmas, like every day since he gave it to her. She looks regal & sexy.

“Love, you look amazing”  
“You too Darling”  
They kiss passionately.  
“Are you hungry Prime Minister?”  
“Yes, I think I will take a second dessert tonight”  
“hmmm.. that's good, I'm hungry like a wolf”  
“Should we start then? What did you prepare?”  
“It’s a surprise but I can tell you that we will need a white wine that accompanies fish”  
Julia opens the wine cooler and picks a white wine, a corkscrew and 2 glasses.  
“Let’s get the party started”

They start with Scottish smoked salmon, sour cream with dill and toast.  
“The salmon is delicious David”  
“It’s coming from Argyll Smokery which is 1 hour drive from my parents’ house”  
“I am very touched and it’s really the best smoked salmon I have ever had”  
“I am glad”  
She laughs  
Then David has prepared a Parmesan Risotto with roasted shrimps and spinach as main course.  
“Mmm David, this is delicious as well. Be careful, before you realize it, I will expect a 3 course-meal every day after my long day of work”  
They both laugh.

“I actually quite enjoy cooking after a long and stressful day, it’s relaxing me. Julia, I want to apologize”  
“For what, David?”  
“For being on the front line in your rescue mission”  
“David..”  
“Let me finish, please, love. I wanted to save you, I wanted to be the first person you see to reassure you and I didn’t want to fail you this time”  
“What do you mean by failing me?”  
“I have failed you at St Matthews”  
“David, you didn’t fail me! We have discussed this already. There was no way you could possibly have known there was a bomb under the stage. And you could have died by running towards the bomb, as Kim” her voice chokes with emotion.  
“I will continue to work on that failure feeling with my therapist. Anyway, I understand you were a bit angry at me. I was reckless, I could have died or being hurt as Commandant Starlight. I am very sorry. I know I need to work on being your caring partner only and not your PPO anymore”  
“Apologies accepted. I understand you wanted to save me. But it’s true that’s a heavy weight for me to carry to think that Ella & Charlie could have been fatherless because of me”  
“I know. I understand. I love you”  
“I love you too”  
“Should we eat our first dessert?”  
“Don’t move”

David comes back with 2 warm chocolate fondants with custard sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, melting on it. They eat in silence, looking intensely at each other and both playing with their spoon to titillate the other.  
Julia goes to the bathroom and pick-up a small gift box and a medium one, on her way back.  
“Do you want the small one or the bigger one first?”  
“Mmm.. what is small is cute they say.. so the small one”  
“I am sorry I have only got one box, but there are two things in it”  
“David, I am not counting.. thank you.. and to be fair, the bigger box is actually for both of us, you will see”  
David opens the small box to find a Tiffany & co’s Makers Valet Key Ring in Sterling Silver and Stainless Steel with « Our choice » engraved.  
“Julia, this is beautiful and thoughtful, thank you so much. My gift is much more classical”  
Julia opens her gift box. David bought her a gorgeous midnight blue lace ensemble and a matching silk kimono with some lace on the cuff of the sleeves, the collar, the 2 fake pockets and the belt.  
“David, this is so beautiful, classy and sexy. Thank you so much. Do you want to open the other box together? As it is for both of us?”  
“OK love”

They open the box which contains 2 sets of handcuffs with white faux fur around it.  
“Do you want to use the cuffs on me, Prime Minister?”  
“Would you be so kind, Sergeant Budd”

They kiss passionately with their tongue dancing together for long minutes whilst their hands caress every surface of the other’s body. They start to be both very aroused. Julia is so wet and David is so hard.  
He put both his hands under her bottom, squeezes it and then carries her to their bedroom, she tangles her legs around his waist.

He then realizes Julia had a design metallic bar added on top of their bed  
“This is new Prime Minister”  
“Yes it is, I didn’t want to wrap that gift and I wanted it to be installed when I offered you the handcuffs”  
“Mmm I see.. he removes her dress so quickly that he almost rips it off. He unclasps her bra but she stops him and removes his jacket and his shirt quickly whilst he caresses her back applying some pressure with his fingers.  
She removes his pants and they are both left only with their underwear. David starts to remove Julia’s knickers very slowly with his teeth whilst caressing her inner thighs, coming closer and closer to where Julia wants him the most.  
“David, stop teasing, please”  
“Yes, Ma’am”

He removes her knickers swiftly and dives to her core, where she wants him and starts to lick her and caresses her little bunch of nerve. Julia starts to squirm under his ministrations and then after some time, explodes all around him.  
“God, David, I will never get tired of this”  
“Mmm I am glad”  
Before he finishes his phrase, Julia is grabbing the handcuffs and tie him at the metallic bar. Both his wrists are cuffed so he is totally at her mercy. His legs, however, are free. 

“Do you have seen Basic Instinct, David?”  
“Of course”  
“Does that remind you something?”  
“Of course. I just hope you don’t have an ice peak under the bed”  
She laughs

“I don’t, but I want to replay the rest of that scene”  
“As you wish, Ma’am”  
Julia slowly moves down his body, she starts to remove his boxer shorts with her teeth, she can feel him becoming harder and harder and some pre-cum liquid starts to escape his cock and stains his shorts. She removes his shorts with her hands and takes him in her mouth, up to her gag reflex. David almost explodes in her mouth instantaneously but manages to restraint himself.  
She sucks him off until she feels he can’t take it anymore, she straddles him and sinks onto his sex. David contorts himself and tries to block her between his thighs. 

“Tut tut tuuuuttt.. no no no Sergeant Budd. I am in charge“ and she starts to move up & down on his sex, rapidly reaching a frantic rhythm and getting more & more frenzy.  
They reach their peak at the same time, both shaking hard under the strength of their orgasm. Julia is collapsing on him and removes the handcuffs. He hugs her so tightly, it’s almost painful. 

“God, Julia, that was spectactular”  
“Yes, it was. And it was my first time”  
“Me too”  
“Sex with you is so stupendous”  
“Sex with you is sensational. I have never experienced anything like it with anybody before. It’s like we both exactly know what the other wants, desires and like our bodies are in fact one”  
“Mmm, I am glad. I feel exactly the same way”

“Maybe we should double-check, to be sure”  
“Yes, double-checking seems wise”

And so they do..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Brighton's bliss
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	17. Brighton's bliss

On Friday 22nd February, David is coming home and finds Julia in her office in 10 Downing Street. 

“Good evening, love” and he pecks a kiss on her lips  
“Good evening, darling. How was your day?”  
“It was good. We made a breakthrough on our big case, thanks to a suggestion I made”  
“Congratulations, David. I am proud of you”  
“How was your day?”  
“I had a good day as well. I had my first cabinet meeting this morning and we made good decisions. The cabinet ministers are getting on well and some of them are starting to collaborate on some topics”  
“Great! That means you have chosen them well. Do you have to work late tonight?”  
“Well, I have to work for 3 more hours and then I will join you in our flat”  
“OK”

“Whilst you are waiting for me, I suggest you prepare and overnight bag with 2 changes of warm clothes, a suit/shirt, a PJ (or not) and a toiletry bag. And a rain jacket, in case of, even if the weather forecast is good”  
“Mmmm do you plan to surprise me this weekend?”  
“Absolutely. We leave London tomorrow morning”  
“And where do we go? Do I need to take my passport?”  
“No, we stay in the UK, but by all means don’t forget to pack some condoms”  
“Mmmm do you have some dirty plans, Prime Minister?”  
“Of course, I do. Always. OK, let’s stop here, before I demonstrate how dirty I can be. I need to have some work done to be totally free this weekend”  
“Yes, Ma’am” and David leaves the room after a chaste kiss on her lips. 

Julia is even more motivated to finish her work and she manages to finish everything in 2 hours. She joins David in their flat and she finds him snoring in front of the television. She puts a blanket lovingly on top of him, orders some food and prepares her own overnight bag whilst waiting for the delivery.  
Her PPOs is knocking on the door with the food. The knock wakes up David who rubs his eyes.  
“What time is it?”  
“Time for food”  
“Sorry to have fallen asleep”  
“Don’t be sorry, you needed it, the detective training and the extra hours during your internship at SO15 are taking a toll on you. Let’s eat and then go to bed to catch on some sleep to be full of energy for the weekend ahead”  
“OK”

They go to bed, David pulling her against his chest, spooning her, kissing her hair and murmuring: “I promise to make it up for you tomorrow””  
“I don’t doubt that. Night Night”  
“Night Night”  
The next morning they wake up naturally, without any alarm clock, the ultimate luxury in their life, being able to wake-up when they want, and not when they have to. They hug half asleep.  
“What time is it?” asks a yawning Julia.  
David looks at his phone: “10 a.m.”  
“We better be moving then”  
After a quick shower and a quick breakfast, they take their bag and leave the flat. 

“Where do we go love?”  
“It’s a surprise”  
They get in the ministerial car with Julia’s PPO and the back-up vehicle is following them”  
“All I am telling you is that we have around 1h20 drive to get to our destination”  
They nap in each other arms for an hour, as the workload of a newly elected Prime Minister is hitting Julia a bit as well, on top of the kidnapping 10 days ago and she is lulled by the car & David’s caresses in her hair.  
“Hum Hum, Prime Minister, we are almost at our destination”  
They both rub their eyes and wake-up slowly”  
“Thank you PS Davon”

David is looking around, trying to guess where they go.  
“We go to Brighton”  
“Indeed”  
“I love Brighton”  
“I know, your mum told me over Christmas. I love it very much myself too, so I thought it would be great to come here, as we don’t have Ella & Charlie this weekend and as my workload is still manageable, as there is no bill to support at Parliament”.  
“Thank you, love”

They arrive at a nice small hotel and they have the rooftop room. There is a king size bed and a massive oval jet bathtub in the big bright room and an Italian shower that you can see from the bed, as the wall between the bathroom and the bedroom is partially in glass. They have 2 intertwined towel swans waiting for them on the bed.  
“Ooohh so cute”  
“Did you order this?” I never thought you were so romantic  
“I didn’t order it, but I suppose they watch TV and assumed you will be there with me. I can be romantic, David. I am not that cold bitch people so often think I am”  
“Easy Julia, I know you are not at all a cold bitch. That’s not what I said. I have often seen your soft, tender, loving & caring side. But it’s one of the first time I am seeing your romantic side, love. Planning this weekend away for me is romantic. This hotel is romantic”  
“I know what you mean. It’s true that between the attack, the bombing, the rehabilitation, the PM campaign, Christmas with the family, the election the kidnapping.. it has been a whirlwind and I did not had a lots of opportunities to show you my romantic side”

Julia smiles and stretches her arms up.  
“Aouch, it seems I have a bit of a sore back from my sleeping position in the car”  
“Do you want a massage, love?”  
“You would be so kind, darling” and she looks at him mischievously.  
David gets the hint and laughs softly.  
“Would you be so kind to remove your jumper and lie on the bed, on your stomach, Ma’am”  
“You are so demanding, Sergeant” says Julia with a playful tone.

Julia grabs some massage oil in her toiletry bag and gives it to him. He sits on the back of his thighs and starts to massage her back, her neck, her lower back, her spine and the top of her bottom. Julia is relaxing completely. David’s hands are going lower and lower until he massages her bottom with more and more pressure in his fingers.  
David removes her jeans & her knickers. Julia flips herself on the bed and starts to kiss him and undresses him, slower than usual, taking in every inch of his body. David finally discards her bra and caresses her breast, her stomach, her back. Julia is caressing his chest, playing with the hairs on his chest. David lie on top of her and enters her very slowly, he very gently closes her legs which naturally parted for him. And he closes his legs too whilst thrusting into her gently. The sensations are very different for both of them and they continue to kiss and caress each other. It is very gentle and their pleasure is building up slowly. Julia is very wet and David increases the strength of his plunges, to make sure she still feels him. The waves of pleasure of her orgasm hit her, she quietly screams his name in his ears, holding him tightly against her body. David follows her soon after with a low groan. He stayed inside her, his body on top of her, caressing her body and her face, before slowly extracts himself from her body and her embrace.  
“David, that was so gentle and so good”  
“Yes, I wanted to try something a bit different, gentler than what we both usually like and a bit more romantic as well”  
She smiles and kisses him. 

“What do you want to do this afternoon love?”  
“There is a picnic ready for us and I thought it would be great to have a nice walk alongside the sea and have picnic on the beach, as the weather is very sunny today, even warm for the season as we can expect 12 degrees. We will still take a blanket with us, in case we got cold”  
“Great, let’s go! I did not have a picnic on the beach for ages”  
“I am glad”

Julia is wearing jeans, warm walking shoes, a warm puffer jacket, a nice hat and sunglasses, so nobody recognizes her and they manage to do all that, without being approached by other people. Her PPOs are also eating on the beach, on 3 different spots, forming a triangle around them, but giving them space. Armed police officers in uniform or in civil clothes are patrolling on the promenade alongside the sea and Julia know ARVs are ready to intervene in the event of an attack. She also knows that the maritime intervention brigade has reinforced offshore patrols since Wednesday. She feels safe in the arms of David. They cuddle on the beach, underneath a warm blanket. 

“How are you feeling, Julia?”  
“David, you are not my therapist and neither my doctor”  
“No, I am not, love. But I am your boyfriend/ partner/ lover/ darling/ whatever you want to call me, and I genuinely care about you, Julia”  
“Sorry for biting back a bit, David. I am not used to a partner genuinely caring about me”  
“To answer your question, I am really feeling great. Physically, I almost don’t take any painkiller anymore and I am able to walk for longer time periods. Psychologically, I am getting there. I can’t swear that nothing could trigger me anymore but I am in a good place, David, really. You said several times that I have saved you, but you know you saved me as well, thrice”  
“Thrice?”  
“Well, physically during the Thornton Circus attack, the kidnapping and you saved me emotionally David”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Before meeting you, I was living a far crime of a fulfilling life. I was waking-up at 5h30, leaving my flat around 7h00, working in the office, in Parliament or having business dinners until 22h or 23h every day. No emotions allowed. No affection. No sex. No weekend. No holidays. Weekends were only meaning waking-up a little bit later (at 7h30) and being in the office at 9h until 19h30 to manage one dinner with my mum or the very little amount of friends I had left and still trusted. Christmas was no difference, except for Christmas lunch with my mum. I was married to my job, I had to work 10 times harder than men to prove myself, I had to be perfect all the time and I lost myself in it, I forgot all my needs, I even started to play these little bad games with the Security Services. I wasn’t myself anymore, more like a caricature of myself. And then you barged into my life, well it was more like a crash-landing, and it changed everything David. You woke me up. You saved me. I will forever be thankful for that”  
David is very emotional, very touched and his eyes are glassy.  
“I love you, Julia”  
“I love you, David”  
“Do you want to go back to the hotel?”  
“Good idea”

They go back to the hotel, walking hand in hand, hugging from time to time and kissing briefly on the lips.  
“Do you want to try that very big oval jet bathtub together?”  
“Oh yes, we have some time before dinner. I booked a table for 21h and it’s a 10 minutes’ walk from here.  
“Great. Plenty of time”  
“Plenty of time”  
David ordered some champagne whilst Julia runs the bath.  
They settle in the bath, with the massaging jets on, drinking some champagne, kissing and chatting happily. Then Julia puts down her glass of champagne by the bath, looks at David hungrily and straddle him very languidly, David takes her face in his hands and kisses her deeply. 

They kiss for several minutes, caressing each other, playing with the bubbles and the jets. David managed to put a condom whilst sitting on the edge of the bath and coming back quickly in his initial position and Julia sinks on his sex slowly, looking in his eyes, caressing his cheeks, before kissing him again. David hold her tight in his arms. They start to move slowly together, the pleasure building up very gradually before the waves of pleasure & their orgasms hit them at the same time. They stay in the arms of each other, coming down from their high, enjoying the jets, sipping more champagne, still kissing & caressing each other until the water got cold. They get out the bath, just put a bathrobe on and have a nap in the arms of each other on their bed. 

In the evening, they walk to the restaurant. David is wearing a navy blue suit that he knows Julia loves very much, a light blue shirt and a navy blue tie. Julia is wearing a crimson red lace dress with a boat neckline, above knee length (which is a big effort for her, as she tends to hide her prosthesis with long dresses or trousers but she surprises David as she is actually wearing her definitive prosthesis, which is more discrete and was prepared in secret for her) with black stockings and her beloved black Louboutin pumps. She practiced for hours with her physio and also alone in her office to be able to walk in them again without stumbling. Julia has booked a very nice dinner at the “64°” restaurant which is privatized for them for security reasons. 2 PPOs stand outside the main entrance and 1 outside the back entrance, so they are truly on their own and they can talk freely without being overheard. They take the dinner tasting menu with the accompaniment of wines.

“Julia, I would like to talk about something”  
“Yes, David. About what?”  
“I am a little bit nervous about it because we never talked about it before”  
“Gosh, you sound so serious”  
“I want to talk about money”  
“What about money?”  
“I don’t want you to pay for everything this weekend”  
“David, I organized a surprise weekend for you, of course, I am paying for it”  
“Julia, it’s embarrassing me. I know you earn around 155K£ a year, I am earning around 45K£. I know I will never be able to earn as much as you do and also I am coming from a middle-class family and you are coming from a very rich family”

“David, it has never been an issue before. Even at Christmas, with the first gathering of our families, you paid some food, I paid some, your parents & my mum paid some and your sister & her husband paid some. It was balanced and nobody felt wronged. Let’s not create problems where there aren’t any. When we went to Elderslie, I didn’t pay anything. You insisted on paying every meal”  
“Because I organized the surprise and it was normal”  
“Exactly. This is the same for me this weekend. Honestly, David. I don’t care how much you earn and how much you have on your bank account”  
“But in Elderslie, we stayed at my parents’, so I did not pay for a hotel. This very nice hotel must be very expensive”  
“It isn’t actually, and no, I don’t want you to pay for anything. We will have other weekends together David. For the common expenses, I don’t think it’s fair to do 50/50. What about I pay 75% and you pay 25%, proportionally to our salaries? But I pay the Council Tax for 10 & 11 Downing Street”.  
“OK. That’s fair. I am happy we had that discussion and OK, I will definitely surprise you soon for a nice weekend together, and you will not pay for anything”  
“We have an agreement”

David says OK because he already has an idea in mind: he is going to take her to Iceland on the weekend of March 9th and 10th. He has already booked everything and arranged everything with Julia's PA & her PPO’s and as he will normally be divorced by then, he will propose to her at the foot of a magnificent waterfall.  
They return to their room after a romantic short stroll by the sea which is beautifully lit by the moon and by the famous Brighton seafront lanterns.  
Julia’s PPO is swiping the room to make sure it’s secure and they enter in it. 

David lets Julia enter first and he follows her closely. He puts his right hand at the back of her legs, between her legs at calf level and slowly raises his hand, caressing her slightly with the tip of his fingers. Julia shivers at the sensation. David does is again and Julia shivers again and turn around to face him. All he can see in her hazel-greenish eyes is lust.  
“Can I help you, Sergeant Budd?”  
David doesn’t answer and crashes his mouth on hers. Julia answers eagerly. He presses her against his body and puts both hands at the back of her legs this time, slowly raising them both and tugging the elm of her dress, bringing it up. He caresses her back, searching for the zip at the same time. He finds the zip and starts to slowly unzip it. His hands resume where they were and he removes her dress by pulling it up above her head. 

Julia is wearing a matching red lace bra & knickers he can see through the black stockings. He wants to attack the removal of the stockings but Julia stops him.  
“That’s not fair Sergeant. You are wearing far too many clothes comparing to me”  
And at that, Julia starts to undress him, whilst their tongues are still playing erotically.  
When David his left only in his boxer shorts, Julia starts to remove her stockings herself.  
“Now we are even”  
“No, we are not” and David unclasps her bra and discards it on the floor.  
“Now we are”

David carries her in his arms and poses her delicately on the bed. They kiss and caress each other gently. Julia removes his boxer shorts and try to approach her mouth from his sex but David stops her.  
“What about doing it together, at the same time?”  
“Mmmm let’s 69 then”  
David discards her knickers and positions himself on the side, his face at her foot and her face at his foot. They lock eyes, smile and slowly moves to their respective target at the same time.  
David starts to lap her sex and sometimes licks her clit. Julia takes David’s sex in his mouth and starts to suck it with need. They find a synchronized rhythm and start to lose themselves in the other. 

David is feeling close to explode in her mouth, so he stops lapping her sex, removes gently his cock from her mouth whilst caressing her everywhere his hands can access, he takes her face in his hands and kisses her deeply. He turns her around slowly, still caressing her with a little bit of pressure on his fingers and position her gently in a dog position. He positions himself behind her and enters her very slowly, caressing her spine, kissing her lower back. He starts to thrust into her very slowly in, slowly out, again and again, until she urges him.  
“Faster. Stronger. Deeper. David”

“No. I want your pleasure to build up slowly and last longer than what we usually do”  
“This is torture”  
“No, this is lengthening the pleasure” and saying that he starts to stimulate her clit whilst continuing the slow plunges in, but allowing himself to go deeper.  
Julia screams out at the sensation and starts to moan more and more, which is turning David on even more. 

He finally allows himself to increase the speed and the strength of his thrusts and after 2 more thrusts, the walls of her cunt are tightening around his cock driving him to oblivion and shaking as he comes hard, his hands tightening her hips almost painfully and crying out her name, before collapsing on top of her, still inside her, but holding his weight on his palms flat on the bed to avoid to crush her. Julia is totally out of her mind, still “orgasming” and almost in a trance. She continues to squirm underneath David, she whimpers, she lets out some small cries and she squirts. David looks at her lovingly. He never experienced that before and finds it very sexy. 

At the sight of her squirting, he feels himself stiffing again and without thinking, he grabs the juice of Julia, puts some on his sex, and uses some to massage her anus and lubricate it, then enters carefully one finger. Julia is whimpering again.  
“May I?”  
“Oh yes”  
David doesn’t waste any time and align his sex with her back entrance and enters her slowly in, slowly out, deeper and deeper with the time, continuing to add some of her juice to make sure this isn’t painful for her and enough lubricated, until she takes all his length. He rocks slowly his body around hers. One hand is squeezing tightly on her hips and the other is stimulating her clit. Julia is getting wilder which turns him on even more and he starts to plunge into her deeper & faster. They are both moaning very loudly until David explodes inside her. Julia feels his sex contracting and then spilling inside her bum. She exhales a long breath and a small cry as another orgasm hits her as well a few seconds later. They both collapse on the bed, exhausted and sexually sated.

Julia is finally calming down and she opens her eyes slowly to find her favorite pair of blue eyes looking at her lovingly. David kisses her heart shaped face tenderly, her neck, her hair, her nose then finally her lips.  
“Are you alright love?”  
“Yes, more than alright. I have never been a squirter before”  
“It was so very sexy”  
“You obviously have a strong effect on me, David”  
“And you on me, Julia. I stiffened the second you squirted, despite having just ejaculated. I have never been able to have sex again so quickly after a sexual relationship”  
“I’m glad”  
“Good night, love”  
“Good night, darling”  
They fall in a deep slumber, entwined in the arms of each other, David holding her tightly. 

On Sunday, they wake-up again without any alarm clock, around 9h30. Julia orders some breakfast in bed whilst David is having a shower. She admires him from the bed, through the glass wall.  
“David”  
“Yes”  
“I have ordered breakfast and it will be delivered soon. Can you, please, wait for me. I would like to join you in the shower. I have another type of hunger to satisfy first”  
“Oh, you do? Tell me, what are you hungry for? What do you expect for breakfast, Ma’am?”  
“Mmm a very yummy Scotsman, however he wants to be eaten or to eat me”  
“I see”  
“May I suggest that very comfortable couch Ma’am. It inspired me from the moment we entered in the room”  
“Oh really, I thought I was the one inspiring you”  
“Well, you are not a furniture Ma’am”  
Julia laughs.  
“Well played Sergeant, well played”  
“I will be waiting for you on the couch then”. I suggest you stay under the shower until breakfast is there, to avoid to stop in between of something much more interesting than food”  
“Yes, Ma’am”

Breakfast is on the table. Julia heard the shower stopping as from the moment there was a knock on the door.  
David waited the maid to leave the room and enters in the bedroom, naked, looking at Julia like a lion ready to jump on his prey. Julia got changed and she is wearing the lingerie ensemble he gave her for Valentine’s and black stockings. She is lying on the couch with one leg flat (the one with our prosthesis) and the other one bent 90 degrees.  
David’s eyes narrows and he smiles, looking at her hungrily.  
“You look so beautiful, love”  
“I wanted to get properly dressed for our breakfast” pouts Julia  
“Mmm can we start our breakfast now and stop talking”

David is on top of her on the couch, kissing her passionately before Julia had the time to blink. Julia lets out a small scream by surprise but then she answers his kisses eagerly. David discards her thong, gets down on his knees on the floor, positions her gently on the couch with her legs parted and dives between her legs.  
His tongue is playing between her folds and her clit whilst his hands are caressing her inner thighs. He removes her stockings. He flips her on her stomach on the couch, removes her bra and massages her back, peppering kisses up & down her spine, caresses her bum and kisses it. She flips back on her back and he starts to massage her breast with one hand whilst the other stimulates her clit.  
Julia is moaning more and more. She pulls him on top of her and kisses him breathless.  
“David, I want you inside me now, please”  
“Yes, Ma’am”

David put her legs up, her left one on top of his right shoulder and her right one on top of his left shoulder, both are embracing his face.  
David plunges into her. Julia moans at the sensation.  
The angle is very different for both of them and the pleasure is building up quickly, David increasing the pace gradually and they reach their peak at the same time, letting escape a loud moan each.  
“I think you need another shower, Sergeant Budd”  
“I do but I think you could do with one yourself, Prime Minister”  
“Indeed”

“But I want a real breakfast first, I am starving”  
They shower together, washing each other gently and kissing a lot underneath the warm water. They are finally dressed and all packed.  
They visit the Royal Pavilion, as 2 anonymous tourists. The place is really beautiful and they both enjoy it a lot. They have a late lunch at Wagamama nearby and after a last romantic walk alongside the beach, they head back to London. 

“David, we have got the kids next weekend. What would you think to all go to Chequers, it would be our first time there and I really would like to associate the kids to it”  
“That’s a very good idea, love. They will love it, I am sure”  
“There are plenty of things to do with the kids & we could even go to Lego Land, it’s about a 45 minutes drive”  
“Are you sure about that?”  
“I have been there with Ella when she was 5 and I barely survived”  
“Well, they are older now and after some glasses of wine, I am sure we will be fine. The perks that come with having a driver”

They both laugh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Escapade
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	18. Escapade

On Thursday 7th March David is finally divorced but he doesn't tell Julia.  
He had made all the necessary arrangements to surprise her with a romantic weekend in Iceland. He has written a poem for her and he plans to propose in front of the Skogafoss waterfall. 

They leave on Friday evening at 19h and arrive at 21h local time. They travel with Julia's 2 PPOs and David's PPO. Her PPOs team has also coordinated with the local police in Reykjavik to have patrols around the hotel & police officers in civil clothes when they will be out in public places. They eat and sleep on the plane, so they are full of energy when they touch down. 

David has booked a Junior Suite at the Grand Hotel Reykjavík with a Jacuzzi bath inside the room. One of Julia's PPO will stay in an adjoining room but the door will definitely remain closed. The other 2 PPO's will be on the same floor, one in the room on the other side of the corridor and the other one in the next room.

One of the PPO is checking the room and the 2 others stay with them, just outside the door of their room.  
"All clear, Ma'am"  
"Thank you PS Davon. Have all a good evening"  
"Good evening Ma'am, Sir" they all answer in chorus  
"Good evening lads" replies David

"After this long day and this 3 hours flight, I need a bath. Care to join me?" murmurs Julia  
"Only if you lay on top of me"  
"Deal" answers Julia by running the bath  
David enters first in the bath and settles with his back on the bottom of the bath. Julia then joins him, settling her back on his chest and their hands entwined.  
"Thank you for this surprise David. Are we celebrating something?"  
"Yes, we are indeed. I am a divorced man"  
Julia doesn't seem surprised and answers: "How do you feel about it?"  
"I am very happy about it. Vicky and I are very good friends and we are co-parenting the kids very well. We have both moved on and we are both in serious relationships. You didn't seem surprised when I said it"  
"David, I am the Prime Minister. I know everything I am supposed to know. My partner living with me in Downing Street being divorced is part of it. I was wondering why you didn't tell me earlier but now I understand it was part of the surprise"  
"Indeed"

Julia doesn't answer but turns her body and kisses him deeply. David pulls her towards his chest so she has to turn around completely and she is now straddling him. They kiss hard and caresses each other hungrily.  
"Julia, I want to taste you" murmurs David huskily in her ear.  
Julia gives him a quick peck on the lips and comes out of the tub. She grabs one of the massive towels and glances at David. All he can see in her eyes is pure lust and desire. He follows her without wasting a second.  
She spread the towel on the bed and she is lying on it. He doesn't flinch and dives between her legs and starts to alternate between licking her folds and kissing & sucking her clit. Julia is moaning more and more which turns him on even more. David continues his ministration and Julia screams, almost blacking out as the waves of her orgasm are hitting her.  
Whilst she is recovering from her high, David is kissing her inner thighs, her stomach slowly moving up to her breast and her neck before reaching for her mouth and kissing her passionately. 

David now straddles her at the waist, his legs on either side of her, his hard sex pushing against her. Julia goes down beneath him, takes her breasts in her hands and lets his sex glides along between her 2 globes.  
"God" says David, closing his eyes as she massages his sex, slowly moving back and forth a little as she pressed her breasts even closer together to enclose his aching sex. David is moaning at the sensation and she licks the tip of his cock each time he thrust forward towards her mouth.  
"Julia…I am close" says David with a warning tone  
"Do you want to orgasm in my mouth or in my sex?  
David doesn't reply and moves down swiftly and enters her with one strong thrust. They both can't help but moan.  
"Shhhh"  
"Shhhh what?" says David increasing the speed and going deeper and deeper with each thrust.  
Julia can't think straight at that point, she just closes her eyes and doesn't answer. 

David continues to plunge into her and slides one hand between them and start to stimulate her clit by circling it and pressing it from time to time. It doesn't take long before they both reach their peak. David first for once, his jerks and the pressing on her clit making Julia to follow him soon after. They lay entwined, caressing each other, kissing softly under the duvet until they fall in a peaceful slumber.

The next morning, after a good hearty breakfast, they leave the hotel with the shuttle to the City Center.  
They walk hands in hands in this typical small Scandinavian town with colorful wood houses.  
They also visit the Lutheran parish church Hallgrímskirkja- one of the most iconic landmarks of Reykjavík - which can be spotted from almost anywhere in the city and which is the largest church in Iceland at 74.5m high.  
They take the elevator up into the spire to admire the views, and to reach the highest platform, they climb the last 30 steps, slowly to avoid Julia to stumble with her prosthesis. The weather is decently sunny but crisp cold (1°C) but the visibility is good and the view on top is breathtaking, the sea on one side, snow-strewn mountains on the other side. They also have a peek of Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Centre.

They eat fish & chips for lunch in one of the small restaurants, then they go to the Blue Lagoon and geothermal hot springs, just a 30-minute drive from Reykjavík.  
It was formed back in the 1970s from the excess water of a power plant, designed to drill for steam and hot water. The water is clean, natural and as it is constantly streaming into the lagoon, completely replenished every 48 hours.  
The sensation to be in warm water, outside, surrounded by rocks and with view on the snowy mountains is very relaxing.

They come back to the hotel quite late and they are getting ready for their evening. David is wearing a dark blue jeans, a light blue shirt, a navy blue woolen suit jacket and a navy blue wool coat with a hand-knitted blue scarf, a gift from his mother. Julia is wearing a high-neck beige cashmere wool sweater dress with dark brown leather boots, her beige Burberry wool coat and her wool Burberry tartan scarf.

David has booked a table at the " 3 Frakkar " restaurant, famous for its whale sashimi, fermented shark and puffin.  
"David, I am not going to eat puffin, these are too cute"  
"OK, but you agree to taste the whale sashimi and the fermented shark?"  
"I have been told recently I was a bit adventurous"  
"Yes, Ma'am. You definitely are"  
"OK, let's share these as starters. And for your information, the whale hunting is very reglemented here"  
"I know, I have read about it on the plane"  
"Why am I not surprised?"  
They both laugh  
"What do you want to eat as main course?"  
"I will have the hashed fish with black bread "Icelandic specialty""  
"Me too"

"Do you like the trip so far, love?"  
"Of course I do, but you know that I like to be anywhere in the world, as long as you are with me"  
"That's cheesy, Prime Minister"  
Julia laughs out of loud "It is indeed. But it's true though"  
David takes her hand across the table and strokes it gently, looking lovingly at her in the eyes.

The waiter comes with the starters.  
"This is the whale sashimi" it looks like red tuna sashimi with more the color of beef carpaccio.  
"and this is a national dish of Iceland consisting of a Greenland shark which has been cured with a particular fermentation process and hung to dry for four to five months. It has a strong ammonia-rich smell and fishy taste. Fermented shark contains a large amount of ammonia and has a strong smell, similar to many cleaning products. It is often served in frozen cubes on toothpicks. If you are first-timers, we advise to wait for the cubes to unfreeze and start to smell and pinch your nose while taking the first bite, as the smell is much stronger than the taste. Here are shots of the local spirit, a type of akvavit called brennivín, that we recommend to drink straight after your first bite. You will love it or hate it"  
"Like Marmite!" they both exclaim at the same time.  
They start with the whale sashimi which is delicious. Then they have a go at the fermented shark, doing as advised, together, at the same time.  
"Beurk! I don't like it, like I don't like Marmite"  
"It's special but I can't say I am hating it or loving it"  
"Let's have another cube to be sure"  
"No, thank you David. I much prefer to let some space in my stomach for a nice dessert"  
David laughes: "You always have some spare space for a dessert"  
"True. True. But no, you can eat it all"  
"I might ask for more brennivin then"  
Julia laughes.  
"Looking for fortification, Sergeant Budd?"  
"Always with you, Ma'am"

They enjoy the main course, much more classical delicious fish and they have both the Chocolate cake with icecream on top.  
"Do we go back to the hotel now?"  
"No, we are embarking for Northern Lights hunt!"  
"OK, let's go hunt"  
After a 45 min drive, their guide stops the van and asks them to step out the car. 

They do not see anything straight away and then suddenly the sky lights up with streaks of dancing colors - green to start with, then blue and purple as well.  
The forms are moving and dancing, almost like a ballet with different shapes contours. They are both looking like kids seeing the sea for the first time with excitement & pure joy in their eyes.  
Suddenly, Julia points her finger to the sky: "Look David, it's a heart shape!"  
David looks at the heart in the sky, then at her deep hazel eyes and out of the blue, before his mind could even register what he says, he spontaneously exclaims: "Marry me"  
Julia looks at him with wide eyes and totally speechless then smiles: "Yes. Yes. Yes. Thousand times Yes, I will marry you David Budd"  
"I love you, Julia. To the moon and back"  
"I love you, David. To the moon and back"  
He takes her in his arms, spins her around and they kiss passionately underneath the Northern Lights which magically turned pink.  
"Sorry love, I don't have the ring with me"  
Julia is so excited she doesn't register what he said. 

They stay for one hour, watching the Northern Lights, star gazing, kissing, murmuring love words, drinking hot chocolate & eating ginger biscuits brought by their guide to keep them warm, then they go back to their hotel. 

They enter the lift, followed by their PPO's. David is holding Julia by the waist, as close to him as possible.  
He murmurs in her ear: "I think it's time for a little celebration"  
She nods: "Oh, yes"  
Their PPO's check the room but they are completely lost in each other, looking at each other so intensely that they both blush slightly. 

They enter their room and their lips lock naturally, their tongues playing together, almost like ballet dancing.  
David dims the light and crouches down in front of Julia. He unzips her boots slowly, removes them and caresses her calves. Julia shivers. David slowly gets up, brushes the back of her knees and starts to pull up her dress inch by inch. He caresses the back of her thighs, her ass, her lower back, both sides of her spine, her neck, then finally pulls her dress on top of her head. He removes her stockings and admires every curve of her beautiful body in her underwear, brushing her sides and her hips.  
Julia blushes under his gaze and feels her heart ponding in her chest.

Julia tosses his jacket on the floor, slowly undoes the buttons of his shirt, caresses his chest, plays with his chest hair and removes his shirt. She puts both hands on his back, gently applying some pressure, starting from his lower back to his shoulders. She comes back to his front and molds his sex with one hand on top of his jeans whilst the other hand caresses his chest again. She removes his shoes, his socks and unzips his jeans. Removing it inch by inch as well, replicating his gestures but starting from the top: caressing his ass, the back of his thighs, the back of his knees and his calves. 

They are both left in their underwear. David looks at her intensely and his eyes are a several shades of blue darker, full of desire.  
He puts both hands on her hips, put one hands underneath her knickers and feels her wetness. He discards the ivory lace knickers in one swift move, unclasps her bra and caresses her breast tenderly. 

Julia removes his boxer short then attacks his mouth greedily.  
They kiss and caress each other for several minutes, both getting more and more aroused rapidly.  
David pushes her gently on the bed.  
"I want to taste you love"  
"Me too David"

They place themselves on the bed, Julia starts to suck his cock and David groans before starting to lick her core and pressing his thumb on her clit whilst circling it.  
They both moan in unison then pull out at the same time, both being on the edge of the orgasm.  
David pushes Julia on her back and admire her naked body one last time before moving up and entering her very slowly, inch by inch. Julia is bucking her hips to encourage him to go quicker but he keeps the pace and deepens their kiss instead and caresses her neck. Julia suddenly bends her legs down and moves her hips up, allowing a deeper penetration and surprising David which let a deep groan escape.  
"Oh my god, Julia"  
"Oh yes, I feel you so well, this is so good"  
"I am close, love"  
"Me too"  
And Julia explodes, her walls clenching around his cock, driving him over the edge at the same time.  
They both lost all their senses, overwhelmed by the strength of their orgasms, barely staying conscious and screaming the other's name.  
David collapses on her, breathing heavily and looking at her like she is the 8th Wonder of the World.  
Julia is still shaking slightly in his arms, her eyes are closed and she breathes heavily as well.  
"My god David, please, promise me that marriage is not going to change our sex life"  
"I promise you, Julia. I love you"  
"I love you too"  
She smiles and opens her eyes, smiling at him the way she reserves only for him.  
David moves on her side, pulls her against his chest and pulls the duvet on top of them. They fall asleep happy, sexually satiated and content.

On the Sunday, after a breakfast in bed and a quick shower, they leave the hotel to visit Skogafoss waterfall. There is a 2h drive from Reykjavik with beautiful scenery all along the way.  
David is reading a tourist folder to Julia: "Skógafoss is one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland, with a width of 25 metres (82 feet) and a drop of 60 m (200 ft). Due to the amount of spray the waterfall consistently produces, a single or double rainbow, normally visible on sunny days"  
"Sounds great, I can't wait"

David managed to evacuate the site for one hour, using the "excuse" of security reasons. They arrive there and are amazed by the beauty of the site.  
They take lots of pictures and then suddenly Julia noticed a big heart on the ground, made of stones, and inside a text made of smaller stones saying "Julia, will you marry me? ", she turns to David and he is on one knee with a simple & fine solitaire ring in a box and he starts to declaim a poem he has written himself:  
"You take me fully as I am  
I wouldn't change a thing in you  
We have found our balance  
I love you. Will you marry me?

You respect me & my family  
I trust you completely  
We share common values  
I love you. Will you marry me? 

You understand my fears  
I do my best to sooth yours  
We both learn to be happy  
I love you. Will you marry me?

You push me to reach my potential  
I admire your intelligence and success  
We support each other in everything we do  
I love you. Will you marry me?

You make my life whole again  
I want us to live our dream  
We have created our own world  
I love you. Will you marry me?

You show me your love, every day  
I show you how much I love you, every day  
We have made "Our Choice"  
I love you. Will you marry me?"

Julia is crying and smiling at the same time.  
"Julia Elisabeth Montague, will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?"  
"I already said yes yesterday evening. Yes, David Budd, I will marry you, thousand times yes!" and she jumps into his arms & kisses him! He puts the ring on her engagement finger slowly, looking at her in the eyes and they kiss passionately.

What Julia & David don't know yet, is that he proposed and they kissed in front of the waterfall which will appear in season 8 of the Game of Thrones series! Daenerys and Jon fly to this waterfall with her dragons and kiss in front of it. Season 8 will be released on the 14th April and they can't wait to watch it. They are both great fans. They will be thrilled, for sure, especially as David's PPO, who was in the confidence, has filmed the whole scene and will give them the video on their wedding day.

After a lot of kissing, they go back in the van and visit the small town of Vik and the black sand beach.  
They eat at the Black Beach restaurant with a beautiful seaview.  
They go back Reykjavik and to the airport to fly back to London. They can't take their eyes off each other and they touch each other as often as possible. 

"David, I think we should call your parents, my mother & Vicky"  
"Why, love?"  
"I don't want them to know we are engaged via the press"  
"How would the press know?"  
"Darling, I am wearing an exquisite solitaire ring on my engagement finger"  
"Mmm you do indeed" and he kisses her. "I wanted you to tell me"  
"I am serious David. We would not hear the end of it"  
"Well, your mum technically knew it was going to happen this weekend as I asked for her permission"  
"You what???"  
"I called your mum and asked for her permission on behalf of your belated father"  
"Oh My God David, this is so old-fashioned and so romantic"  
"And my parents also knew it was going to happen this weekend as I asked my mum my grandmother's ring at Christmas. I wanted to re-use the diamond. My grandparents had a very happy & fulfilling marriage, I thought it would bring additional strength in our marriage"  
Julia is feeling very emotional now.  
"Ella & Charlie know as well, as I wanted to have their "approval" as well. They both were overjoyed & overexcited about it. They love you so much"  
"And I love them very much as well"  
"And Vicky knows because Ella & Charlie couldn't resist to tell her"

"OK, that leaves us with the rest of the country to know then. We will draft a press release tomorrow morning with my PR team, I will send it to you for your approval and we will then release it"  
"Great"  
"Now that we have sorted that out, can I kiss my fiancée?"  
"Mmmm yes, my fiancé"

The next morning, they wake up in their bed at 11 Downing Street and they both look at their phone to watch the news before jumping in the shower.  
They both have more than 20 voice messages, 20 texts and Julia's mailbox is full.  
WTF!  
"David, they know"  
"They know what?"  
"About our engagement!"  
"How?"  
Julia shows him a picture of them kissing taken at Heathrow's airport with a zoom on her engagement ring.  
"OK, well, the Press Release has to be sent first thing this morning then"  
"Indeed"  
"Let's sort this out before I am going to SO15"  
The Press Release is out less than 30 minutes later: "Prime Minister, Julia Montague and her partner, Sergeant David Budd are pleased to announce their engagement took place this weekend. They are both very happy and ask the public to respect their privacy. No wedding date has been set yet. More information will follow in due time"

Later that day, Julia arrives at the Chamber and Roger is waiting for her.  
"I have heard Congratulations are in order. Honestly, Julia you are such a pathetic cougar. You and that monkey? He is 9 years younger than you"  
"Thank you Roger. I am the happiest I have never been in my entire life actually. And my sex life with a young lover is the best I have ever had. Now if you excuse me, I have got a country to run. Have a good day"

After a full day, they are cuddling in the sofa. Julia admires her ring for the hundredth time that day.  
"David, don't take this badly, but I would like to sign a prenuptial agreement"  
"Of course, Love. I am not thinking any differently"  
"And I want to state clearly that you, Ella & Charlie and our potential future children would be my beneficiaries in the event of my death"  
"Julia, no. I don't want your money. I don't want people to think I am marrying you for your money"  
"David, I know you don't. Let them talk"  
"No, Julia. You have a lot of money and I don't"  
"So?"  
"Julia, your mother is still alive. You have got the fund for heart attack prevention you & your mother created after your father died"  
"This is a separate article in the agreement; of course the fund will get some money as well but I want you and the kids to have everything to thrive"  
"Julia, no, this is out of question. If you insist, you can secure a fund for Ella & Charlie to allow them to be able to study whatever they want to study, and not being denied their vocation like me, but I don't want any of your money!"  
"David, my money is not dirty! I want the people I love the most to be able to enjoy it. I know you ain't gonna waste it! It's not your style to by a Ferrari or to lose money in a casino!"  
"Julia, no. I don't want that. If you want to have me as a beneficiary, I want your mum to have her word on my spendings and if your mum is not alive, I want you to identify a lawyer you trust entirely to play that role"  
"OK, we can add that, if that makes you feel better, but I trust you entirely"  
"Julia, I had my issues in the past. I am still not 100% recovered and I prefer to have a sanity check, that's it"  
"OK, I understand David. That's OK"  
"Did you had a chance to look at your diary love?"

"I did actually. What about Saturday 4th May? We are both Star Wars fans, May the 4th is a symbolic date".  
"Great! That's fine for me"  
"And what about a hen do & stag do?"  
"David, I am too old for that"  
"No you are not. I was actually thinking to suggest to do it together. We could both bring 4 friends in a nice vineyard in the UK, do some activities together and some separately, like you could enjoy some time with your girlfriends at the SPA and we could do some quad"  
"Mmmm that sounds great actually. I also feel like you have a place in mind already?"  
"I do actually. But this is a surprise! Just chose the weekend, give me the names & email addresses of 4 girlfriends and I will take care of it"  
"OK. Deal"

"Did you think how you wanted to get married, love?"  
"Do you mean, do I want a big circus like my first wedding? A TV broadcasted wedding in Westminster Abbey like the Royals? Or just a smallish wedding with just our close family & friends?"  
"Yes. Please, don't tell me you want a replay of Kate & William's wedding?"  
"Mmm.."  
David pales  
"God no, David. I am teasing!"  
"Phew! You had me worried for a moment"  
"I would love a smallish wedding with only close family & friends in Scotland"  
"You want to get married in Scotland?"  
"Yes, I do. What would you say to get married in Paisley Registry Office, then we cross the road and get married at Paisley Abbey? For the wedding celebrations, I really love Finlaystone House"  
"Julia, I am speechless. I am so happy you have thought about getting married in Elderslie"  
"I do. I did some quick research and I really liked Paisley Abbey and Finlaystone House. The registry office is a modern building but it's fine"  
"That sounds perfect love. I am really touched. However, Finlaystone House is always booked 2 years in advance"  
"Well, I called them and they just had a cancellation for the 4th May. It was a business event and their CEO has just been sacked, so they cancelled it. I have put an option on it for 24h. They didn't believe the UK Prime Minister was calling to start with.."  
"I bet they didn't"  
They both laugh. 

"Let's check with my parents, your mum and Vicky and if OK for them, we book it"  
"David, I am impressed"  
"By what?"  
"You didn't ask for a security check with my security team?"  
David laughs.  
"I know the place from the wine cellar to the rooftop. I will brief the security team. And I don't want security concerns to taint our wedding day. We will get married where we want to, security will be managed"  
"Mmmm I like the way you think"

Julia calls her mum and the 4th May is OK for her. She is absolutely thrilled about the wedding.  
David's parents are OK with the date as well and they are very touched that Julia suggested to get married nearby where they live and where David grew up. They ask to speak to Julia, they congratulate her warmly and thank her deeply to get married there. 

Vicky is OK with the date and she genuinely congratulates them as well.  
Julia booked the venues herself the next day and asks her lawyer to draft a prenuptial agreement.  
On the evening, they are sitting on the couch again, kissing more and more deeply, passion slowly taking over them.  
"Love, before we forget all about the rest, did you have a chance to look at your diary for the hen"s & stag's do?"  
"I did, what about the 13th & 14th April?"  
"Yep, that works. Thank you"

"David, I have been thinking about this. Before we spend a whole weekend together, I think it would be great to first spend an evening together with your close friends and another evening with my close friends"  
"That's a great idea, love"

So here they are 2 weeks later, on a Friday evening, entering in a pub in Camden. Their PPOs guide them quickly to the first floor which has been privatized for them and David's friends.  
"Julia, stop fidgeting"  
"But what if they don't like me David?"  
"Then they are idiots"  
"But they are your 4 closest friends!"  
"Look, I don't care if they don't like you, I love you, that's all that matters"  
"I love you too"  
"Hello David!"  
"Hello Robb, Ned, Jon & Matthew"  
"This is my fiancée, Julia"  
"Hello Julia" they all say in one voice, eyeing her bizarrely. 

"Hello. I am very happy to meet you all. You are David's best friends and I am glad you can all make it to our hen's & stag's do and our wedding"  
"David is the happiest I have ever seen him, I am very happy for you both"  
"Thank you Ned"  
"You remember my firstname?"  
"Of course, I do. It's very important in my job to know who is who.

They are all a bit intimidated to be in a pub with their best friend and the Prime Minister but Julia's best political skills are doing their magic and they all ease up with the time (and the beers). At some point, Julia swears because she drops some beer on her top. They all laugh and the ice is definitely broken. They start to tell her a lot of stories about David's childhood and teenager's time. Julia looks at him lovingly and David is keeping eye contact with her at all time and always manage to keep a physical contact with her the whole evening. Then they play darts all together. Julia is, of course, very good at it. 

On their way back, they sit silently in the car and then David says: "where did you learn to play darts that well?"  
"Mmmm better not to tell you now.. you can ask my girlfriends when we meet them tomorrow" she says mischievously.  
"OK, looking forward to it. Did you have a good evening, love?"  
"I did have a great time David and it was great to listen to all their stories about you. Giving me even more reasons to love you"  
"Mmmm I am glad"

The next day, they change radically of scenery as they go to a Private Club in Chelsea.  
"David, stop fidgeting"  
"But what if they don't like me"  
Julia laughs "David, stop worrying, it will be OK"  
"But Love, I already feel uncomfortable in this place"  
"David, relax. I love you"  
"I love you too"  
"Remember: our choice"  
"Our choice"  
"Hello Helen, Sue, Trish & Michelle"  
"Hello Julia"  
"This is David, my fiancé"  
"Hello David, nice to meet you" they all say together, looking at him with an appraisal look. 

"Hello. I am very happy to meet you all. You are Julia's best friends and I am glad you can all make it to our hen's & stag's do and our wedding"  
"You are even better looking in real life than on the pictures in the newspapers. And I have never seen Julia being this happy. I am very happy for you both"  
"Thank you Trish" replies David, blushing slightly at the compliment.  
"I am very impressed you remember my firstname"  
"Well, I used to be paid to be observant" replies David with a huge smile and they all laugh. 

They all found David very attractive, polite & kind but do not know about which topic to talk but David stuns Julia by talking about golf. He started playing when he was 5 at Elderslie Golf Club and the conversation is smooth and friendly from that point on.  
"Julia, do you know that your wedding will make history with you becoming the first Prime Minister to marry in office since the Earl of Grafton in 1769"  
"Yes, I know. This is a long time ago"  
"David, are you going to wear a kilt?"  
"I don't want to spoil the surprise for Julia"  
"If you do, will you wear underwear or not?" they all giggle, even Julia.  
"Well, you know what they say about the Scottish Tradition?"  
"Yes, we do, but is it true?"  
"It is, but you have to take my word for it, ladies" and they all laugh.

"Now, it's my turn to ask a question: where did Julia learn to play darts as well as she does?"  
They all laugh loudly then Helen speaks out: "When we were 16, we used to sneak out the boardschool to drink some beers at the local pub with boys and play darts. Julia dated the best darts player of the pub and he taught her some techniques and tricks"  
It's David's turn to laugh out loud.  
"Sneaking out the boardschool? My Julia?"  
"It was actually her idea"  
"She is never stopping to surprise me"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have started to write poetry recently in my mother language (French) so David's poem is my first ever poem in English and my fourth poem ever.. 
> 
> Next Chapter: Vows & Fun
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


	19. Vows and Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very sorry for taking so long to upload this chapter. Life has been a bit hectic and work very busy. I hope you will like it!

On Saturday 13th April, they are getting ready to celebrate their hen’s & stag’s do with their best friends at Hambledon vineyard. 

On their first day, they are going to make their own English Sparkling Wine all together, have lunch then they will do a chocolate & wine tasting. Julia & her girlfriends will then hit the SPA whilst the boys are going to do some quad race around the vineyard.  
They have a very good dinner booked on Saturday evening in the main house, in a room privatized for them.  
On Sunday, after a big breakfast, they are going to go for a discovery tour of the vineyard, have lunch in the cellar and then whilst Julia & her girlfriends are going to have a sparkling afternoon tea, the boys are going to have a paintball session – David feels strong enough to enjoy it and not let it trigger him. 

“Love, are you ready? The car is waiting for us”  
“I am coming, David, I am coming”  
“You are more vocal usually when you come”  
“Cheeky, David, very cheeky”  
They both laugh out loud.  
“OK, I am ready. Let’s go!”  
“What took so long, love?”  
“Nothing, Darling”  
“Mmmm”  
“Am I not allowed to have some surprise in store for you?”  
“Yes, you are, Ma’am”

They arrive there just in time to meet all their friends in the main hall. They introduce all their friends to each other then they start the first activity scheduled: the fabrication of their own English Sparkling wine all together. They all enjoy themselves a lot. 

They have a late lunch and there is a good atmosphere in the group, at the beginning everybody was doing some efforts to get along for Julia & David, but with the time, their friends discovered common passions & discussion topics. 

The chocolate & wine tasting is great as well, they all enjoy it immensely.  
Julia & her girlfriends have a nice and relaxing time at the SPA and they even have a group massage.  
David and his friends have great fun on their quads but David is coming back quite dirty as his friends pushed him in the mud at some point. 

David is entering their room and finds Julia in a relaxing bath.  
He approaches her and wants to kiss her but she pushes him away gently.  
“David, hands off! You are so dirty”  
“Oh, do you want me to show you how dirty I am, Prime Minister”  
“I do when you will have removed all these dirty clothes & take a shower to remove all the mud from your hair, face & hands”  
“Your desires are order, Ma’am”

David cleans himself up and watches Julia intently from the shower. Julia holds his gaze and then starts to caresses herself. She starts with her breast, her nipples which are just above water level, then moves her hands down and starts to stimulate her clit before entering one then two fingers in her sex. She closes her eyes as the pleasure is building up, knowing David is getting more and more aroused.  
David stops the shower and jumps in the bath, making the water splashing around them on the floor and which startle slightly Julia who opens her eyes, only to see his eyes full of desire before he attacks her mouth hungrily. 

“David, we have to get ready”  
“Mmmm, first I want to make you come hard and scream my name”  
Julia pulls him close to her which makes the water splash even more strongly and they kiss hard. Then David carries her out of the bath and pins her against the tiles of the bathroom, he lifts his amputated leg, so she has good support on her other leg and he thrusts into her with passion.  
They continue to kiss and caress each other everywhere they can access to and they reach their peak at the same time. Both screaming the other’s name.  
“God, David. That was memorable”  
“It was memorable indeed”  
They both laugh.  
“I think we need another shower, you look quite flushed, love”  
“You too, David”  
“OK, let’s be quick as we are expected downstairs in 20 minutes”

During the dinner, Helen as prepared a quiz for both of them, to see if they know each other well. She asks them the same questions about their other half and compare with the answers they gave us by email, separately, before this weekend and they count the points.  
1\. What is her/his date of birth?  
Julia’s answer: David is born on the 18th June 1986  
David’s answer: Julia is born on the 12th June 1977

2\. In what city was she/he born?  
Julia’s answer: David is born in Elderslie  
David’s answer: Julia is born in Cheltenham

3\. What is her/his middle name?  
Julia’s answer: Easy, we needed for the wedding, it is “Stinnys”  
David’s answer: As Google says correctly, it is “Elisabeth”

4\. What is her/his favorite color?  
Julia’s answer: David really like “blue”, even if he doesn’t vote Tory  
David’s answer: Julia likes “lavender” both the flowering plant’s scent and its color

5\. What is his favorite movie?  
Julia’s answer: Star Wars, without hesitation  
David’s answer: Star Wars, without hesitation

6\. Who is her/his favorite actor/actress?  
Julia’s answer: Mmm I would say “Keeley Hawes” as he really likes “Line of Duty”, “Ashes to Ashes” and “MI-5”  
David’s answer: Richard Madden!! She liked him so much in GoT

8\. What is her/his favorite series?  
Julia’s answer: Game of Thrones, without hesitation  
David’s answer: Game of Thrones, without hesitation

9\. What is her/his favorite song?  
Julia’s answer: I would say “Rocket Man” from Elton John, he really liked the movie  
David’s answer: She can listen to “Personal Jesus” from Depeche Mode 10 times in a row

10\. Who is her/his favorite singer?  
Julia’s answer: Let’s say “Elton John”  
David’s answer: That’s difficult but I would say “Harry Connick Jr.”

11\. Who is her/his favorite band?  
Julia’s answer: David loves U2  
David’s answer: Depeche Mode! No doubt about that one

12\. What is her/his favorite sport?  
Julia’s answer: Football!  
David’s answer: Football!

13\. What is her/his favorite food?  
Julia’s answer: David loves pizza  
David’s answer: Julia is fond about Indian food

14\. What is her/his favorite vacation spot?  
Julia’s answer: Anywhere in Scotland   
David’s answer: The French Riviera

15\. What is her/his favorite country other/his than her/his country of birth?  
Julia’s answer: I think it is Ireland  
David’s answer: Julia speaks French and has studied there for a semester, so I would say France

16\. What is the quality she/he values most about you?  
Julia’s answer: he says very often that he admires “my sharp mind”  
David’s answer: I would say “my chivalry” as our psychotherapist said recently

17\. What is the fault she/he hates the most about you?  
Julia’s answer: he hates my obsession with order  
David’s answer: she hates my messy side

18\. What is her/his main obsession?  
Julia’s answer: security  
David’s answer: order

19\. What is the first gift she/he gave you?  
Julia’s answer: a bouquet of orchids whilst I was at the hospital  
David’s answer: to get Charlie is his new special school

20\. What was her/his nickname as a child?  
Julia’s answer: Little Dick  
David’s answer: Princess J.

They had only made one small mistake each: David’s favorite song is actually “Nothing else matters” from Metallica and Julia’s favorite holiday spot is Corfu, followed closely by the French Riviera.  
They are all very drunk at the end of the evening and they fall into a peaceful slumber. 

On the Sunday morning, David is awaken suddenly as Julia is shaking and screaming. He switch the light on and holds her close against his chest.  
“You are safe, love. It was a nightmare. You are safe. I am here with you, we are both safe. I love you. We are getting married in 3 weeks. Everything is fine. I want you to concentrate on your breathing and count with me. One, two, three, four,… “  
The panic attack is slowly waved off.  
“Sorry, David”  
“Don’t be sorry, love. We both know it can still happen from time to time to both of us and we know how to help the other to cope with it”  
“We do, but I am sorry, I had a nice surprise for you this morning”  
“Well, I am sure you can still surprise me tonight or another day”  
“Can you, please, just hold me close now. I need a bit more sleep”  
“Of course, love. I am not going anywhere”

They both fall back to sleep and wake-up 2 hours later, feeling both much more rested and fresh.  
They have breakfast in bed and then they join their friends for the second day of festivities. They go for a discovery tour of the vineyard, the weather is nice and the tour is great. Then they do a bit of wine tasting and have lunch in the cellar. Julia & her girlfriends have another SPA session and a sparkling afternoon tea. David and his friends do a paintball session. They all enjoy themselves a lot and David is very proud as he is not triggered. Then they come back home. 

“David, I need to have some work done, I am afraid. I will be in my office at number 10”  
“OK, love, no problem. I will call the kids and study for my DI exam”  
After 2 hours, Julia is texting him: “Can you, please, come in my office, I want your opinion on something”  
Julia is waiting for him in her office at number 10. She got changed and wears a black pencil skirt, a classical white shirt with 4 buttons open from the top to show the glimpse of nice red lace lingerie… David enters the room and looks at her with wide eyes.  
“Julia, you got changed?” stutters David..  
“You are very observant, Sergeant. You should apply for Detective Training”  
“What is that for, Prime Minister? You have a late visioconference meeting?”  
“Not really, no. You see my fiancé had his stag’s do this weekend and every self-respecting bachelor party has to include a strip teaser”  
“But maybe your fiancé didn’t want any and specifically asked his friends not to include that”  
“Maybe, but maybe his fiancée could do it then?”  
“You want to do a strip tease for me, here, in your office?”  
“Yes, and I want you to make passionate love to me on my desk”  
“Is it a fantasy of you, Prime Minister?”  
“Absolutely, can you, please, stop talking now Sergeant?”

Julia pushes him gently backwards until he falls on a chair and she starts to undress herself very slowly.  
She starts by opening her shirt, untucking it from her skirt, unbuttons it very slowly, descending it off her shoulder, her lower back then letting it fall down on the ground softly. She is wearing a beautiful red lace corset. She unzips her skirt teeth by teeth and turns herself in order to give him a full view of her ass, then she does some “vahiné” moves and pulls her skirt down. It falls as a small black pool on the ground. He can see her beautiful corset fully now, with a matching garter belt and black stockings.  
“You are so beautiful Julia, I am a very lucky man”  
Julia blushes slightly but continues her strip tease by removing her stockings slowly and sensually, then the garter belt. She then lowers a strap of her corset, then the other, she removes the knot at the back and loos it up and then pushes the corset down and steps out of it slowly. She is now completely naked in front of him. 

“Every self-respecting bachelorette party is including a strip teaser. I had the same idea love, but I did not change my clothes yet, I am sorry”  
David starts to undress himself slowly as well. Unbuttoning his shirt slowly before taking it in one hand, making it swing on top of his head before launching it softly on Julia who can’t help but laugh.  
Then he unzips his fly teeth by teeth as well and removes his jeans whilst not facing her, so she also has a full view of his ass. He is left in his boxer short that he removes so very slowly.  
They are both fully naked in front of each other and quite turned-on by the strip tease they have both performed & watched. 

David takes one step to her, Julia does the same, then they hurry towards the other, their mouths crash and they kiss passionately for several minutes, both only stopping only to gasp some air. David doesn’t waste any time and bends her on her desk and enters her from behind, knowing she is more than ready for him. He uses one hand to hold her close to his body and the other to caress her breast, her nipples, her stomach, her spine and finally her clit.  
They both speed up the pace as David is thrusting into her deeply. They are both overwhelmed by pleasure at the same time as Julia’s walls clenching on his sex ignites his own orgasm.  
“I wanted to make love to you on that desk since the day we moved in together in Downing Street”  
“Me too”  
“We can tick the box now”  
Julia laughs “Indeed, and I am open to a replay any time, Sergeant”  
It’s David’s turn to laugh “Your desires are order, Ma’am”

The 3 following weeks are passing as quickly as lightspeed between the wedding preparation, Julia’s work, David’s training, the preparation of their first State Visit abroad as a married couple. They will meet the US president, Donald Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump in Washington just after the wedding, on their way to Necker Island where they will spend 10 days for their Honeymoon. This is their wedding gift from Richard Branson who is an old friend of Julia. The Foreign Secretary will be in charge of the Government during their Honeymoon with specific guidance from Julia beforehand and specific orders not to disturb her unless in case of extreme emergency.

The evening before their big day, they lay in David’s bed in his old room at his parents’ house in Elderslie, they are facing each other under the sheets after having made love very slowly and tenderly.  
“I can’t believe we are getting married tomorrow!”  
“I know, I still can’t believe a wonderful, strong, brilliant and sexy woman as you accepted to marry me”  
“David, are you not scared sometimes, because everything went so fast between us?“  
“As you know, I was not very stable psychologically when we first met. I was not in a good place. I even tried to strangle you because you sweetly tried to wake me up one morning, something I will never forgive myself”.  
Julia gently squeezes his hand and kisses him softly.  
“I have forgiven you David, a long time ago”  
“You really saved me, Julia. You believed in me. You told me to get help. Your love and your strength helped me to heal, to reborn and accept that there is a dark part in myself, like in every human being. I feel stronger than ever today. I am in love with a beautiful, sexy, fiercely intelligent and strong head Tory. I feel like I am back in my teens sometimes with you. You are bringing out the best part of me and I am deeply in love with you. So no, I am not scared. I am amazed that you are in love with me and I have to pinch myself sometimes to make sure I am not dreaming”  
Julia kisses him softly again.

“And you, Julia? Are you scared about it?”  
“Well, I have met the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla several times when I was the Home Secretary. They met on the 13th November 2007 at a dinner organized by a common friend, they get married on the 2nd February 2008. They welcomed their baby girl Giulia on the 19th October 2011 when Carla was 44 years old and they are still happily married more than 10 years after. And, he is a conservative and she is a liberal”. They both laugh.

“More seriously, David. Somebody would have told me one year ago that in a year time I would be married to a handsome, sexy, intelligent, head strong Scotsman 9 years younger than me and who votes labor, I would have laughed out loud. But today, nothing seems more right than being together with you. I love you deeply and from a statistics point of view, we might have a lot of odds against us, but I am used to fight against all odds, and win!”. They both laugh again and kiss passionately.

Not so very long ago, this wedding would have been impossible as both David & Julia are divorced and their former wife/husband, are still alive.

Even though the Anglican Church was founded by a King wanting to rid himself of his queen, the British royal family and the religion it heads have been struggling with divorce and remarriage for centuries. It’s not until the last half of the 20th century that divorce becomes common and the stigma begins to falls away.

Julia & David have decided to follow some of the traditional Scottish Rules with a modern twist in some others. 

In the morning, after a good Scottish breakfast prepared by David’s mum, Julia is getting ready in David’s parents’ room with the help of her mum, Helen & Trish. One of the 2 photographers capturing her preparation. Julia refused to have the wedding broadcasted, she might be the Prime Minister but this is a private matter which she & David want to keep for themselves, their families & friends. They agreed to publish an official portrait of them in the press on the Sunday with an official press release but nothing more. However, they hired 2 photographers to capture their big happy day and Julia wanted to have a film of the 2 ceremonies as well.

David is getting ready in his old room with his parents and the other photographer capturing his preparation.

Ella & Charlie who are already ready, thanks to Vicky’s efficiency, are bouncing between Julia’s room and David’s room, overexcited. Ella is bride’s maid & Charlie is page boy and they will bring the wedding rings attached to a heart shaped white satin cushion for the ring ceremony in the Church.

Charlie is proudly wearing a mini-version of the wedding kilt David is going to wear and Ella is wearing a mini-version of the lavender colored bridesmaids’ dress Julia and her have chosen together, with a lavender crown. They both look so beautiful and happy to see their dad so happy and marrying Julia. They are also a bit nervous as they will be reading a text during the wedding but it is a surprise and neither David nor Julia knows about it, thanks to Julia’s & David’s mums. 

Julia’s make-up artist is finalizing Julia’s make-up whilst the hairdresser is finishing Ella’s braids and tie them together like a crown, which will support the lavender crown. Then she suggests to apply light make-up to Ella (just a bit of mascara and transparent gloss) who is over the moon. In the same time, the hairdresser works on Julia’s bouncing natural curls and sparingly attaches some small fake diamonds in her hair. Then she does Julia’s mum, Helen & Trish’s hair as well. 

They all help Julia to put on her off-shoulder lace A-Line ivory wedding dress. Julia looks at herself in the mirror and she becomes very emotional. Her mum sees it and hugs her tenderly.  
“You look magnificent & regal Julia, but most importantly: you look so happy”  
“Thank you mum. I am very happy indeed. I know it sounds very cliché but this is the happiest day of my life”  
“Happier than when you were elected Prime Minister?”  
“I was very happy on that day too, of course, it was a life-goal of mine for a very long time, but it doesn’t compare to the inner happiness I am feeling today for marrying David. I have never expected this. I have never expected to fall in love so deeply. I have never expected.. him..”  
“I am so happy for you Julia and I wish you all the happiness of the world”  
“Thank you mum”  
“Are you ready?”  
“I have never been more ready for anything in my entire life”  
“Let’s go then” 

She helps her to wear her matching wedding ivory bolero with the luckenbooth David gave her in the morning after breakfast, before they separate for the preparation. The beautiful classical heart-shaped brooch is made of silver and engraved with two intertwined hearts.  
Then she hands her a lavender and rose bouquet, a miniature version of the one David gave her when she got back home after her long recovery after St Matthew’s. Julia admires the bouquet and she smiles as she notices a sprig of white heather hidden in the bouquet as she knows it’s a popular good luck token in the Scottish Borders.  
They are about to exit the house and Julia’s mother stops her.  
“Julia, don’t forget to put your right foot forward!”  
“I didn’t forget mum, don’t worry”  
She exits the house putting her right foot forward and holding the pause to allow the photographers to capture this tradition. They have decided not to do the feet-washing ceremony on the day of their wedding, in order to avoid Julia to feel uncomfortable with her prosthesis. 

They decided to do the ‘wedding scramble’ which is traditional in most parts of Scotland - as the bride steps into the car, her father throws a handful of coins for the children to collect. Believed to bring about financial good fortune. As Julia’s dad is dead, Julia’s mum is doing it.

David and all the men present wear traditional Scottish attire, consisting of a kilt and its accessories and a short black jacket; a sprig of lucky white heather, sometimes adorned with a tartan ribbon, is frequently hung on the lapel of the jacket. 

David is waiting for Julia in front of the registration office, feeling so happy. The protection team managed to evacuate all the paparazzi but David can’t help to scan the surroundings and the building around. 

Julia arrives in her usual BMW serie 3 black sedan customized with white ribbons for the wedding. Ned (one of David’s friends) plays the pre-arrival music: “Hallelujah” from Leonard Cohen sang by Bon Jovi in the wedding room and everybody stops talking and sits on the chairs.  
David holds his breath, Julia steps out the car and he looks at her mesmerized, encaptured by her beauty.  
“Julia, you look stunning, love” and he can’t stop himself and kisses her briefly on her lips.  
“David, you are handsomely dashing in your traditional wedding kilt”  
“I love you”  
“I love you too”  
“Ready?”  
“With you, for everything”

David holds her hand and they walk to the registration office wedding room where the Registrar and all their friends & family are waiting for them with the song “Canon in D” by Pachelbel playing in the background.

When they reach their chairs and sit down, facing their guests, the very self-confident Julia Montague feels suddenly a bit overwhelmed by her emotions and clasps David’s hand is a swift gesture. David simply smiles gently at her, it calms her straight away and she smiles back. 

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the British crown and the British government (there is a muffled collective laugh from the audience and David & Julia smile), I welcome you all to the Paisley Registration Office. You are here to witness the joining in matrimony of Julia Elisabeth Montague and David Stinnys Budd. Today marks a new beginning in their lives together and it means a lot to both of them that you, their family and friends, are here to witness their wedding vows and celebrate their marriage. If any person present knows of any lawful impediment to this marriage you should declare it now”. There is a long silenced pause, so the Registrar goes on.

Marriage is a desire by two people to share themselves and their experiences with each other, and a willingness to accept each other for who they are. It is making a commitment to friendship and mutual respect and calls for honesty, patience, courage and of course, humour (there is another muffled collective laugh from the audience).  
Marriage requires closeness and distance – the closeness of a couple growing together and enough distance to allow each partner to be an individual. A good partner in such a marriage will be loving, caring and above all a best friend.  
I am now going to ask you each in turn to declare that you know of no legal reason why you may not be joined together in marriage. Please repeat after me…”.

With a slightly trembling voice, Julia repeats after the Registrar: “I do solemnly declare – that I know not – of any lawful impediment – why I, Julia Elisabeth Montague, may not be joined in marriage to David Stinnys Budd”.  
As he speaks, David sounds very emotional: “I do solemnly declare – that I know not – of any lawful impediment – why I, David Stinnys Budd, may not be joined in marriage to Julia Elisabeth Montague”.

Helen is standing up and starts her reading:  
“The Art of a Good Marriage by Wilferd Arlan Peterson  
Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens.  
A good marriage must be created. In marriage the little things are the big things.  
It is never being too old to hold hands.  
It is remembering to say “I love you” at least once a day.  
It is never going to sleep angry.  
It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue through the years.  
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.  
It is standing together facing the world. It is forming a circle of love that gathers the whole family.  
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.  
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.  
It is not looking for perfection in each other.  
It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humour.  
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.  
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow old.  
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.  
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.  
It is not only marrying the right partner; it is being the right partner”  
She hugs Julia briefly & pats David’s arm and comes back to her chair.

The Registrar continues:  
“The purpose of marriage is that you always love, care for and support each other through both the joys and sorrows of life. Today you will exchange vows of marriage which will unite you as husband and wife. These vows are a promise of a lifelong commitment. Before you are joined in matrimony here today I have to remind you both of the solemn and binding character of the vows you are about to make. These vows which unite you constitute a formal and public pledge of your love for one another. Marriage is the union of two people voluntarily entered into for life to the exclusion of all others. Please, repeat after me:”

David, Julia, please face each other. Guests, please stand”. David and Julia turn towards each other and hold hands, their eyes glistening and very loving, “please repeat with me”.

Julia, looking at David intensely, speaks again with a slightly trembling voice: “I call upon – these persons here present – to witness that I, Julia Elisabeth Monatgue, do take you, David Stinnys Budd, to be my lawful wedded husband.

David looks into Julia’s eyes intensely as well: “I call upon – these persons here present – to witness that I, David Stinnys Budd, do take you, Julia, Elisabeth Montague, to be my lawful wedded wife.  
They both grin broadly and squeeze each other’s hands.

They are both very emotional and manage barely to hold back tears. Julia’s mum is crying happily and David’s mum as well..  
The Registrar completes the ceremony: “today is a new beginning. May you have many happy years together and in those years may all your hopes and dreams be fulfilled. Above all, may you always believe in each other and may the warmth of your love enrich not only your lives but the lives of all those around you. It now gives me great pleasure to tell you both that you are now legally Husband and Wife. Congratulations”.

David & Julia look at each other very lovingly, then they hug tightly and kiss passionately with everybody cheering loudly around them.  
Ella & Charlie are the first ones to run to them and hug them tightly.  
In the meantime, Julia’s mum & David’s parents have discretely guided everybody to sit back in their chairs. Ella & Charlie take a step in front of Julia & David, take a piece of paper Vicky is handing them and start to read “Today is the day”

Ella starts:  
“Today is the day, on your wedding day  
Today is a day you will always remember  
The greatest in anyone's life  
You'll start off the day just two people in love  
And end it as Husband and Wife”  
Charlie is taking over, standing confidently in front of everybody and continues the reading flawlessly and without hesitation:  
“It's a brand new beginning the start of a journey  
With moments to cherish and treasure  
And although there'll be times when you both disagree  
These will surely be outweighed by pleasure  
You'll have heard many words of advice in the past  
When the secrets of marriage were spoken  
But you know that the answers lie hidden inside  
Where the bond of true love lies unbroken  
So live happy forever as lovers and friends”  
Ella finishes:  
“It's the dawn of a new life for you  
As you stand there together with love in your eyes  
From the moment you whisper 'I do'  
And with luck, all your hopes, and your dreams can be real  
May success find its way to your hearts  
Tomorrow can bring you the greatest of joys”  
And they say the last sentence together:  
“But today is the day it all starts”  
Author Unknown

Everybody is clapping their hands and Ella & Charlie are both beaming.  
David is crying and hugs them both, he is so proud, especially of Charlie who managed to overcome his reading issues, partially thanks to the methods used in his new school but also thanks to his courage & willingness. Julia is very emotional and hugs them both as well, she barely manages not to cry.  
It’s also a very strong sign that they are happy to see Julia & David getting married and love Julia very much.  
Vicky is crying happily, she looks at Julia and mouths “thank you” as she know Julia is the person behind Charlie’s transfer into his new school. Julia smiles at her and mouths “you are welcome”.

Julia’s mum is hugging them both followed by David’s parents.  
The Registrar is finalizing the ceremony:  
“Now the solemn moment has come for Julia & David to contract their marriage before you their witnesses, families and friends – so can I ask you all to stand please and join together for the celebration of their marriage. Then Julia & David and their witnesses sign the marriage register, with the song “Baby I'm Yours” by Arctic Monkeys playing in the background. 

Once this has been done the Registrars signs the register and present them with their marriage certificate.

Richard is then giving Julia a Scottish Quaich or ‘Loving Cup’ - a two-handled silver bowl which she tops up with whisky and then passed around for the wedding party. The Quaich is often referred to as the love cup as the newlyweds each take a handle to take a drink, showing they trust one another to share the cup.  
The Quaich is actually a traditional Scottish drinking vessel, and its name derives from Gaelic cuach simply meaning 'cup'. However, the quaich was not used for just any drink. The Quaich was reserved for a good old dram of whisky or brandy! This Quaich is actually a gift from the Queen for their wedding, in solid silver with the coat of arms of Scotland on one side, the coat of arms of England on the other side, engraved with a beautiful J & D and the date of their wedding underneath. 

Then they exit the Registration Office wedding room hand in hand with the song: “Happy” by Pharell Williams playing in the background. 

All the guests gathered in front of the registration office and instead of throwing rice, they blow soap bubbles in the direction of the bride and groom. That provides very lovely pictures as they kiss passionately surrounded by the soap bubbles and also a lot of laughs- adults becoming children again for 10 minutes! 

And then starts the Wedding Walk - the formal march taken by the wedding party to the church which is very close to the Registration Office. Preceded by a piper or fiddler, the bridegroom leads the maid of honour while the bride walks behind with the best man. After the ceremony, the newlyweds leave the church followed by the best man escorted by the maid of honour. 

The guests are gathering in Paisley Abbey and then David enters the Church with his mum on his arm. 

David is waiting for Julia down the aisle and is feeling very emotional to be in this Abbey in particular, where he was attending the Sunday mass every week with his whole family, and now Julia is part of his family.

The organ starts playing “the Bridal March” from Richard Wagner and Julia is walking down the aisle with her mum on her arm. David looks at her again mesmerized and can’t avoid a happy tear to fall.

The minister (the Very Reverend Alan Birss) is waiting for Julia to reach David who can’t refrain himself to take both of her hands and to kiss her chuckles.  
The minister starts the ceremony:  
“We are gathered here in the presence of God, family and friends to unite Julia Elisabeth Montague and David Stinnys Budd in holy matrimony. Marriage is an honorable estate, and is therefore not to be entered into lightly, but reverently, advisedly, soberly and with God’s blessing. Today, they will receive God’s greatest gift; another person to share with, grow with, change with, be joyful with and to stand with as one when trials and tribulations enter their lives. It is fitting, therefore, that we should on this occasion begin by asking for God’s blessing on this marriage. Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we gather to celebrate your gift of love, and its presence among us. We rejoice that these two people have chosen to commit themselves to a life of loving faithfulness to one another. We praise you, Lord, for the ways you have touched our lives with loving relationships such as Julia and David’s, and we give thanks for the special love and friendship you have put in their hearts. Renew within us an affectionate and loving spirit. Enrich our lives with the gracious gift of your love so that we may embrace others with that same love. May our participation in this celebration of love and commitment, give to us a new joy and responsiveness to the relationships that we cherish. In your loving arms we pray, Amen.  
You may all be seated”

“Marriage is a joyous occasion. It is connected in our thoughts with the charm of love, the warmth of home, and with all that is pleasant, as being one of the most important events of our lives. Its sacredness and unity is the most significant and binding covenant known in human relations.  
Julia and David, let me charge you both to remember that your future happiness is to be in mutual consideration, patience, kindness, confidence and affection. It is the duty of each of you to find your greatest joy in the company of the other; to remember that your love pledged today must remain undivided for a lifetime.

It is your duty, David, to be to Julia, a considerate, tender, faithful, and loving husband: to support, guide and cherish her in prosperity and trouble; to thoughtfully and carefully enlarge the place she holds in your life; to constantly show to her the tokens of your affection, to shelter her from danger, and to love her with an unchangeable love.

It is your duty, Julia, to be to David, a considerate, tender, faithful, and loving wife; to comfort, guide and cherish him in prosperity and trouble; to give to him the unfailing evidences of your affection; to continue making the place he holds in your heart, broader and deeper; to support him, value him and work with him to make your marriage the very best that it can be.

I call your attention to the seriousness of the decision which you have made and the covenant you are about to declare before God. The vows you are about to take are not to be taken without careful thought, for in them you are committing yourselves exclusively to one another for as long as you both shall live.  
If you are ready to assume the obligations and duties before God, as I have defined them, you will unite your hands and pledge your love and your lives to each other.

Julia and David please join hands and face each other so that you can look into each other's eyes and see the beauty of what is about to happen”  
Ella & Charlie walk together with the rings attached to a heart shaped white satin cushion.  
“Ella, please hand this ring to your Dad to give to Julia”  
David takes Julia's ring and places it on her finger and says:

“I, David Stinnys Budd take you Julia Elisabeth Montague, to be my wife, my constant friend, my faithful partner in life, and my one true love. On this special, holy day, I affirm to you in the presence of God, our family and friends my sacred promise to stay by your side in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, as well as through the good times and the bad. I promise to love you without reservation, comfort you in times of distress, encourage you to achieve all of your goals, laugh with you and cry with you, grow with you in mind and spirit, always be open and honest with you, protect and cherish you for as long as we both shall live. You were, are and always be my choice, every day until death do us part. Just as this circle is without end, my love for you is eternal. Just as it is made of a permanent metal and diamonds, my commitment to you is forever. With this ring, I thee wed” and David puts the platinum wedding ring paved with diamonds on her ring finger, looking at Julia intensely, straight in her eyes, takes her both hands in his and kisses them on her wedding band.

“Charlie, please hand this ring to Julia to give to your Dad”  
Julia takes David’s ring and places it on his finger and repeats:  
“I, Julia Elisabeth Montague, take you David Stinnys Budd, to be my husband, my constant friend, my partner in life and my one true love, in the presence of God, our family & our friends. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart and my love, from this day forward for as long as we both shall live. You were, are and always be my choice, every day until death do us part. Just as this circle is without end, my love for you is eternal. Just as it is made of a permanent metal, my commitment to you is forever. With this ring, I thee wed” and Julia puts the classical platinum wedding ring on his ring finger, looking at David intensely, straight in his eyes, takes his both hands in hers and kisses them on his wedding band.

David’s sister is now making her way to the lectern and starts her reading  
“Corinthians 13:1-13  
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.  
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love”

The reverend is now finalizing the ceremony:  
“Eternal God, help Julia and David to fulfill the promises they have made here today and to reflect your steadfast love in their commitment to each other. Give them kindness and patience, affection and understanding, happiness and contentment. May their family and friends continue to support them in difficult days, so that their love for each other may continue to grow as long as they both shall live.  
Let us all pray.”

“Our Father, who art in heaven,  
Hallowed be thy name,  
Thy kingdom come,  
Thy will be done,  
On Earth as it is in heaven.  
Give us this day our daily bread,  
And forgive us our trespasses,  
As we forgive those who trespass against us,  
And lead us not into temptation,  
but deliver us from evil.  
For thine is the kingdom,  
And the power, and the glory,  
Forever and ever.  
Amen.”

“Julia and David, having witnessed your vows for marriage before God and all who are assembled here, by the authority invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride!”  
Julia & David hug each other tightly and kiss deeply in front of everybody.  
He murmurs in her ears: “Our Choice. Always and Forever”  
She murmurs back in his ears: “Our Choice. Always and Forever”  
It is my pleasure to introduce to you for the first time Mr & Mrs Budd.

They walk out the Abbey, arm in arm, smiling broadly and holding on tight to each other with the organ playing “the Wedding March” by Mendelssohn  
At the exit of the church, David throw coins to the children present in order to ensure the good fortune of his marriage.  
They pause for some pictures together, with their parents, with Ella & Charlie, with their witnesses and then they all embark in the cars and drive to Finlaystone House for the celebration of their wedding.  
“How do you feel Mrs Budd?”  
“Ecstatic”  
“And how do you feel my beloved husband?”  
“Over the moon” 

They kiss lovingly in the car, for several minutes and enjoy their first minutes as husband & wife. Of course, they are not like any other newlyweds and there is an impressive (but discrete) security team protecting them. Police cars & motorbikes are leading the way in front of her ministerial car and some are behind it, but today Julia doesn’t feel like the Prime Minister, she is just Julia, a woman in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Celebration & Honeymoon
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!

**Author's Note:**

> English is my third language, so bear with me if there are some mistakes, please.
> 
> Your kudos and comments really mean a lot to me, thank you!


End file.
